Meghalaya PCB submits verification report on illegal coke plants in East Jaintia Hills
Two days after Meghalaya Home Minister Lahkmen Rymbui instructed Superintendent of Police, Jaintia Hills to take stern action against illegal coke factories in the area, the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB) swung into action and is preparing to issue closure notices to coke plants operating without proper clearances.
“We conducted verification of coke factories mushrooming in East Jaintia Hills and a report on the same has been submitted to the Deputy Commissioner of the area. Soon necessary action will be taken against them from his end,” an official from MSPCB told The Northeast Today (TNT).
The official went on to say that after getting the Single Window Agency (SWA), the project proponent is duty-bound to obtain necessary clearances from the respective departments such as the MSPCB and forest department, but some coke factories tend to evade this process.
“After obtaining the SWA clearances, the project proponent should ideally obtain NOCs from the MSPCB and forest department of the concerned area. But, unfortunately, several coke plants have started operating with the SWA clearance alone giving the NOCs a miss,” the official said, adding that the MSPCB will also be monitoring the air quality of the areas around the plants to ascertain there is no violation of environmental norms.
Ideally, a pollution control device is installed in chimneys of coke factories after the issuance of Consent to Establish (CTE), the official added. He further clarified that there has been no substantial evidence to verify people’s allegation of black soot polluting the air in the area.
Voicing his concern about people’s health residing in East Jaintia Hills, former Health Minister, AL Hek said that an economy cannot flourish at the cost of public health. “We are concerned about residents’ health in the area. Though I have not visited the area in recent times, I am very worried about the reports of mushrooming of illegal coke factories in Sutnga elaka. Health is more important than any other thing and,” he averred.
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