Shillong, Mar 20: The District Magistrate of East Khasi Hills has issued a prohibitory order today under Section 163 of the BNSS to protect land from indiscriminate construction activities, dumping of soil, extraction of earth or desilting of dams.
The DM said that complaints have been received of construction of houses, roads, schools, dams, pipelines, commercial and industrial projects, etc that involve extraction or sourcing or borrowing of ordinary earth, stones and boulders resulting in huge quantity of loose soil and debris being extracted, which are often indiscriminately disposed off and dumped along the road or nearby the catchment area and water sources without identifying proper dumping ground and without prior intimation or permission from the concerned authorities.
With parts of the district already receiving pre-monsoon rain, these activities could lead to run-off polluting and clogging up rivers and other water bodies, including drinking water sources.
There was an infamous case just last year when the Umngot River, famed for its clarity, became cloudy after soil debris from a road construction site was washed into the river.
The DM, under today’s order, prohibited any unauthorised construction that requires excavation of earth/soil/boulders without identifying proper dumping ground and mitigation measures to prevent water pollution and without prior intimation/permission from the authorities and any construction without identification of proper site for dumping of soil or debris.
She cited the guidelines of the Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules 2016 issued by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPСВ) as pertinent to the order and also said that the standard operating procedures/environmental safeguards issued by the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB) vide notice MSPCB/ТВ34/2022/2024-2025 on March 10, 2025 must be followed.
These pertain to extraction or sourcing or borrowing of ordinary earth for the linear projects such as roads, pipelines, etc., and dredging and desilting of dams, reservoirs, weirs, barrages, rivers and canals for the purpose of their maintenance, upkeep and disaster management.
The order came into force with immediate effect.
