Shillong, Jul 20: The Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB) has not taken prompt action on damning environmental statistics for the Byrnihat area in Ri-Bhoi, the High Court of Meghalaya noted in a suo motu case.
In a hearing on July 7, a two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh, noted that the MSPCB had tasked the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research’s National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) in 2024 to submit a comprehensive report of the air pollution sources and emissions within Byrnihat and the Export Promotion Industrial Park (EPIP) there.
The report was submitted to the MSPCB in March 2025.
The EPIP was developed under a central government scheme to provide infrastructure for industrial units with export potential. There are several industrial units in the area, including steel plants, smelters, alloy production units, etc, and the presence of these industries along with their associated activities and overall growth have led to Byrnihat and the adjacent EPIP area, becoming “a non-attainment town in terms of ambient particulate matter (PM10).” Apart from the EPIP, the national highway that runs between Guwahati and Shillong along this route also contributes significantly to pollution levels.
The High Court took up the case after new claims regarding the poor state of air and water pollution in Byrnihat were highlighted through news reports and on social media. Byrnihat lies on the Assam-Meghalaya border and was infamously named as the world’s most polluted town in late 2023 or early 2024. At the time the Meghalaya government blamed Assam for being the main driver of the poor ranking.
The CSIR-NEERI report sets out specific and general conclusions and recommendations. Apart from setting out specific recommendations for issues relating to emission of silica/quartz; industrial emissions, including fuel combustion; dust emission and resuspension; vehicular tailpipe emission; and biomass and waste burning, CSIR-NEERI also gave general recommendations under the potential ambit of regional airshed approach for air quality management.
The general recommendations state that the entire Byrnihat airshed should be brought under integrated air quality action plan to ensure accountability and to achieve clean air goal; that all particulate generating industries need to install structures for particulate matter control; that operators use de-dusting, water sprinklers, etc for coal, coke, loose earth, ore, cement, quartz, etc; that such sprinklers should use grey water or rainwater and not groundwater or streams; greenbelts should be developed around industrial facilities; that a transition to renewable energy be prioritised; among other suggestions.
Recent news reports indicated to the court that the MSPCB “needs to act with alacrity before the situation worsens” and apply existing laws strictly.
At that July 7 hearing the court impleaded the MSPCB and Central PCB. However, today the MSPCB’s legal representative asked for more time to file an affidavit-in-reply. A Health Department status report was also found to have provided “sketchy” data that did not address the actual issue. The case will be heard again on July 23.
