Baramulla, Oct 5: For Shafiq Ahmad, stone carving is more than a profession. It is a family inheritance that has sustained three generations and provided his household with a modest but dependable livelihood.
That stability has now disappeared.
Restrictions affecting stone quarrying in Baramulla have brought work to a standstill for families dependent on the trade, leaving artisans, quarry workers, tipper operators and labourers struggling to make ends meet.
“I am unable to pay the school fees of my children. The school authorities have now told me either to clear the dues or take my children back,” Shafiq said.
His predicament is shared by scores of families whose livelihoods are directly or indirectly linked to the quarrying industry.
For tipper owners and drivers, the halt in operations has turned income-generating vehicles into idle assets while loan repayments continue to accumulate.
Muhammad Maqbool, who owns and drives a tipper, said the financial pressure had become overwhelming.
“What is left for us now?” he asked. “When a person is unable to feed his family and faces unending pressure from banks to repay loans, a man is left with no option but to think of extreme steps.”
The disruption is also being felt beyond those directly involved in quarrying.
The shortage of sand, bajri and gravel has begun affecting contractors and government development works across the district. With construction material becoming difficult to procure, the Baramulla Contractors Association has announced a boycott of the tendering process until adequate supplies are restored.
Association chairman Bashir Ahmad Sheikh said contractors were facing the crisis at a critical time, with only around a month left in the working season to complete several projects.
“Without material, how is it possible to start work on projects? Tomorrow, if something goes wrong with the work, we will be blacklisted,” he said, adding that contractors could not participate in tenders without assurance of material availability.
The dispute stems from a continuing standoff between authorities and quarry and tipper owners over royalty payments on minor minerals.
While authorities have tightened enforcement against illegal extraction and transportation, operators maintain that the unresolved royalty issue has paralysed legitimate quarrying and transportation activity as well.
Baramulla MLA Javed Hassan Baig has also questioned how development projects can progress when quarry owners are unable to operate and transporters have no material to carry.
For now, the impact is being felt far beyond government offices and tender rooms—in households where school fees remain unpaid, loan instalments continue to pile up and daily-wage workers wait for work.
Behind the stalled quarries lies an economic chain that has supported thousands of families, directly and indirectly.
With that chain disrupted, many families across Baramulla are struggling to keep their livelihoods afloat.
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