Hazardous stone crushing: SC takes notice of silicosis deaths in Gujranwala

Supreme Court seeks report from concerned departments in this regard within two weeks.

ISLAMABAD:

In his last day in office on July 5, outgoing chief justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani took suo motu notice over the death of 18 labourers in Gujranwala, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The Supreme Court has sought a report from all secretaries of labour and human resource department, Gujranwala commissioner and heads of environmental protection agencies in this regard within two weeks.

Earlier, two members of Public Lawyers Front (PLF) namely Osama Khawar and Yahya Farid Khawaja moved the SC under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution, requesting it to direct the provincial governments to frame rules regulating occupations involving stone-crushing and the hazardous emission of silica dust.

The application pointed out that though the deceased labourers made repeated requests to the factory owners, they were neither provided with any masks to protect them from silica powder inhalation, nor did the factory owners install any dust control equipment.

The applicants furnished a list of 18 young labourers, who died in Gujranwala from silicosis. Among them were nine labourers who were from one village in Gujranwala. The latest victim of silicosis is Safdar Ali from Gujranwala who succumbed to the disease three weeks ago. Ali’s brother also died last year from the same disease.

The court was also informed that more than 100 labourers had died from silicosis in Dera Ghazi Khan and other regions of Punjab in the last few years – apparently all of them were working in stone crushing factories.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2014.