Secretariat march today Protesting against the new Supreme Court directive asking small and medium crusher and quarry owners to secure NOCs from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests for their operations, the Kerala Crusher and Quarry Owners Association coordination committee will hold a Secretariat march on Thursday, association officer-bearers have said. They said all the crushing units in the State would observe a shutdown on Thursday, seeking to withdraw the fresh directives. The decision would badly affect the construction sector as the units were already functioning under the stringent provisions enforced by the State Pollution Control Board, B.M. Sadique, an office-bearer of the association, told a press conference here on Wednesday. The Supreme Court directive to bring small and medium crusher and quarry units in the ambit of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, a ruling which had been hitherto applicable only to the coal, iron, gold, and granite mining units operating in large areas, was bound to affect construction activities, Mr. Sadique said. Over 40 lakh people were directly or indirectly depending on the crusher and quarry units for livelihood. A hostile verdict could throw thousands of people out of jobs, the office-bearers pointed out.