Hazardous stone crushing: SC directs Punjab govt to award compensation to heirs 18 labourers

The court also sought report regarding actions taken by the provincial government against the stone crushing factories

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Punjab government to award compensation to the heirs of 18 labourers, who died in stone-crushing factories of Gujranwala until December 2. 

The apex court also directed the Director General (DG) Environment Punjab to appear in person along with report about the status of cases, pending in environment tribunals. All the provincial law officers of the country have also been summoned to appear in this case when it is next heard.

The three judge bench of the apex court, headed by chief justice Nasirul Mulk is hearing a suo motu case on the application two young members of the Public Lawyer’s Front (PLF), Usama Khawar and Yahya Faird Khawaja. The applicants had 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 applicants claimed that more than 100 labourers had died – in Dera Ghazi Khan and other regions of Punjab in recent years – due to silicosis, a disease caused by poor workplace conditions in stone crushing factories.

“Work at the factory entails the feeding of stones into the grinding machine to break them into smaller stones, ultimately grinding the stones into a powdered form. In this process, due to the absence of a dust control mechanism, a dust cloud is raised in the premises of the factory,” they further argued.

During Tuesdays' hearing, counsel for the applicants Raheel Kamran Sheikh expressed dissatisfaction over the Punjab government’s report.

Sheikh submitted that neither compensation has been awarded to the families of deceased nor has the provincial government taken action against those responsible for the death of labourers including owners of the stone crushing factories.

On the other hand, Additional Advocate General (AAG) Punjab Razaq Mirza stated that the provincial government is working on a comprehensive plan to deal with the issue.

He also submitted a notification of a nine member committee formed by chief minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif to take stock of the existing working conditions in the stone grinding factories and ensure compliance with labour safety standards as per international benchmarks and submit an implementation report to the chief minister within four weeks.

The committee is comprised of minister of labour, secretaries’ of Labour Department, Environment Protection Department, Industries Department and others.

The AAG stated that the provincial government has already approved Rs5.4 million for the compensation to the heirs of deceased and the amount would be distributed among them within a month.

Mirza further informed the court that the provincial government has so far paid Rs0.5 million as compensation to families of each of the 34 labourers who had died in Dera Ghazi Khan.

Apprising the apex court about the award of fine to the owners of stone crushing factories, AAG said that the government has received Rs0.76 million in fine from seven factories.

The chief justice, however, expressed his surprise over the low quantum of punishment to the factories owners.

Another member of the bench, Justice Gulzar Ahmad, observed that government departments are not doing their work; therefore, cases should also be registered against those officials who have shown negligence in the matter related to the death of labourers.

Meanwhile, the applicant’s counsel Raheel has submitted a list of than 15 labourers, who have died in stone crushing factories.

Summoning the Director Labour Gujranwala on December 3, the court on Tuesday sought report regarding the actions taken by the provincial government against the stone crushing factories, which are violating environment and labour laws.