Shillong, May 8: Peeved by the government’s reported inaction to respond to objections regarding the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) submitted by Shree Cement for its proposed limestone mining project at Lum Syrman, located in East Jaintia Hills, the Jaintia National Council (JNC) has threatened to launch a public march to the Secretariat in Shillong.
According to the JNC, the EIA is illegal and have communicated this objection to multiple government entities, including the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB), State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEIAA), and the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEF).
The JNC has set a deadline for the state government, stating that if no feedback is received by May 15, they will organise a march to the secretariat.
“The EIA report doesn’t match with the State of Meghalaya”, JNC president Sambormi Lyngdoh stated. He said there are three notable violations identified, which he claims do not necessitate further investigation since they are evidently acknowledged in the report submitted by the proponent.
One of the major points raised by the JNC is that the EIA report is wrongly associated with Meghalaya. Lyngdoh stated that the report explicitly states that it pertains to a project in Gujarat. On the very first page of the draft EIA report, it is clearly mentioned: “the application for the term of reference for the proposed project was considered in the meeting of the Gujarat SEAC.”
Stating that the mine’s safety plan is built on a dead law, Lyngdoh said the EIA categorises the area under seismic zone VI, a classification that the Bureau of Indian Standards officially discontinued on March 3, 2026. The Shree Cement submitted the EIA on April 7, 2026, 35 days after the withdrawal. “How can a company be permitted to hold a public hearing where the Disaster Management Plan protecting the lives and lands of our people is written on a law the Government of India itself has already cancelled?” he questioned.
Lyngdoh further pointed out the exclusion of the JHADC from the EIA document. Considering that the buffer zone surrounding the mine comprises 98.79 per cent scheduled tribe population, as noted in the EIA’s own data, he questioned the silence of the district council about the constitutional rights of tribal families in Elaka Nongkhlieh.
The JNC recalled last year’s public hearing for Shree Cement at Daistong, where local residents were reportedly barred from entry by individuals acting in the interests of the company, by utilising their “goons and mafia.”
“We will not sit idle while companies from outside take our rights and our land,” the JNC asserted.
