Hundreds of marble industries of Buner have been undergoing problems due to the government's ban on the blasting technique used for extracting raw marble from sites since the military operation against terrorism-cum-militancy.



Dawood Shah, co-owner of SM Industries, told The News over phone from Buner that production capacity of marble industries dropped by 80 per cent owing to shortage of the raw material.



Shah, having two marble factories in Buner, said there are some 400 marble industries in the area which are struggling due to dearth of raw material.



"Local people have taken all measures to reconstruct the damaged infrastructure. Since the government has re-invested a little in infrastructure, local businesses, while the marble industry has been hit hard, he said.



Industry officials say the government has banned the popular blasting technique to control movement of explosives in sensitive areas of the province. After the successful operation carried out by the security forces in the district, life in Buner was gradually returning to normality but businesses have received a big jolt this year.



The technology use in marble extracting is old and miners carry out blasts to extract raw-material, which results in 80 to 85 per cent wastage of raw marble. Italian machinery is expensive and a few factory owners can afford the heavy machinery. This is what the government should intervene and help miners and investors, shah added.



Tahir Shahab, Pakistan Stone Development Company (Pasdec) Marketing Manager, a public sector company established to develop the stone sector, said the Pasdec has taken various measures to mitigate the problems of marble industry by facilitating the investors and stakeholders.



He said the current situation of the country is going to improve in a couple of months and marble sector will certainly improve by upcoming march as "we expect some international orders coming into Pakistan."



He said the quality of local machinery has improved a lot but it is only useable in processing, however, Italian machinery is best and being used in mining which reduce the raw material wastage.



Sanaullah Khan, Chairman of All Pakistan Marble Mining Processing Industry and Exporters Association (APMMPIEA) said owing to disturbance in the province traders are now buying raw material from the southern part of the country. He added that despite all problems, the marble industry of the country is growing and marble related exports are increasing year after year.