Shillong, Dec 14: Seven remaining illegal coke plants were demolished through controlled explosions on Saturday, East Jaintia Hills Deputy Commissioner Shivansh Awasthi informed in a video statement today.
Awasthi said that the demolitions were in compliance with directions of the High Court of Meghalaya.
A joint team had been constituted to undertake the demolition of unauthorised coke plants operating within the district, led by Sub-Divisional Officer Manish Kumar, officials of the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB) and the police department.
A total of 16 coke plants were identified in East Jaintia Hills as having been set up without obtaining the necessary authorisations as per the norms and criteria as laid down by government notification. Out of these 16, five had been demolished earlier.
For the remaining 11 plants, notices were issued to them in October, directing the owners to submit whether they have obtained the necessary permissions for regularisation. However, no response was received from the concerned coke plants.
Accordingly, instructions were issued to the joint teams to proceed with the demolition of the remaining 11 unauthorised coke plants. Four had been found to have been demolished by the owners, leaving seven to be put out of commission by the district authorities.
