Princess Giri Rashir, a journalist from Meghalaya won the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, 2021 under the Environment, Science, and Technology Reporting category.
Rashir reports for EastMojo, a digital news media platform from North East. Her documentary titled “Choking amid coking: Meghalaya coke factories leave no room to breathe” earned her the recognition for shedding light on the dire consequences of coke factories in Meghalaya.
According to Rashir, the documentary “Choking amid coking leaving no room to breathe’” is about the mushrooming of illegal coke plants in particular areas in Meghalaya. The areas that I had focused upon were East Jaintia Hills District and West Khasi Hills District in Meghalaya.
This documentary also focuses on how these coke plants which have been setup very close to human habitat has been a health hazard and were violating environmental norms.
She said that upon seeing the numerous protest, especially by the Environment Coordination Committee (ECC) she couldn’t sit back and it compelled her to visit the place and see for herself.
“Another was the growing concern of not only one district but the same problem was being raised in the other district which is the West Khasi Hills District, they were also complaining of how the climate has changed drastically over the years with the setting up of these coke plants. I’d also seen that this very issue was being discussed in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly,” she said.
Rashir said that one of the challenges that she faced was entering some of these coke plants.
According to her, fortunately, with the help of the members of ECC, she could do a walkthrough in front of heaps of coal lying near the coke plants.
She also said that there was always a sense of fear if she was being followed since East Jaintia Hills District, particularly Elaka Sutnga, is a hotspot for legal and illegal coal mining.
“Things got more complicated when a source in the West Khasi Hills District, Shallang area backtracked from giving an interview. He feared that he would be in trouble for speaking up against the issue. Despite assurances of not revealing his identity, the source refused. Later, I managed an interview with one of the leaders of a pressure group called the Federation of Khasi Jaintia & Garo People (FKJGP) from West Khasi Hills,” Rashir said.
She also said that the government acknowledged that there were plants that had been setup illegally and when working on the documentary the government had decided to form a technical committee to look into the coke plants in the state.
Rashir also said that the legal course taken by the ECC was a major win for them and for the people because the High Court gave an order to shut down and demolish the illegal coke plants.
