After a long fight, the people of Sutnga Elaka in East Jaintia Hills have partially won the battle against the elite few and the government pertaining to the establishment of illegal coke oven plants in the area.
29 units of these coke plants have been given closure notice as well as Refusal of Consent by the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB).
This is a historic win in the Sutnga Elaka as there has never been in its history that the voice of the people and the weak overcame the coke mafia and the government.
However, the citizens of the Elaka along with the Environment Coordination Committee (ECC) have decided to continue to fight to expose the irresponsible and misuse of power by the government and the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) both on the ground and before the court of law.
The matter has also been raised before the National Green Tribunal and has been listed on March 10 for the State government, MSPCB and coke plant owners to file their affidavit.
As per the latest RTI information provided by the JHADC, as many as 42 no-objection certificates (NOCs) have been cleared by the district council to the coke plants in East Jaintia Hills alone despite strong opposition by the people.
Further, as per the RTI replies from the MSPCB, there are 50 coke plants that have been established in East Jaintia Hills. This shows that some of the factories are set up without the NOC from the JHADC and also without going through the various procedures and proper scrutinisation of the documents.
The RTI replies by JHADC also showed that out of 42 NOCs for coke plants only eight coke plants have obtained trading license indicating that the rest are operating without trading license. It was also found that only these eight coke plants have paid the professional tax to JHADC.
As per one of the conditions of the NOCs, environment registration fees of 5 percent of the coke plant shall be deposited on monthly return. However, as per the RTI sought, till date there were no records that any coke plant has submitted the monthly return.
The NOC issued by JHADC to the coke plants is valid for a period of one year from the date of issue subject to renewal and fulfillment of the terms and conditions prescribed. The RTI revealed that all the 42 NOCs issued have become invalid since they were not renewed till date.
The RTI details obtained from MSPCB however stated that the number of coke plants in East Jaintia Hills have been increased to 50 in spite of the people’s protest against their establishment during the last one year.
It was also revealed that only two coke plants in the district have been granted with Consent to Establish (CTE). Twelve others have been granted Consent to Operate (CTO) out of which five are operating without valid CTOs.
Out of 50 coke plants that have applied for CTE before the MSPCB, 29 have already been refused consent on grounds that they were established without prior consent from the board and also that they did not meet the norms as notified by the board among others.
The Environment Coordination Committee (ECC) of Sutnga Elaka has time and again demanded from the government to take punitive measures against these 29 coke plant whose application have been rejected on different grounds since it was found that these coke plants were still operating despite the closure notice and refusal of consent by MSPCB.
Till date no cases have been initiated before any court of law by the State government against these coke plants except the cases filed against nine others last year by the then East Jaintia Hills Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ethelbert Kharmalki.
During a surprise inspection conducted by Kharmalki along with the members of the ECC, it was found that the two coke plants namely Syrpailang Coke and Jaintia Coke Industries established within Sookilo village failed to comply with the conditions as mentioned and provided in the CTO.
The two coke plants released smoke pollution into the open environment without filter and proper treatment. Thereafter, the DC sent a report to the MSPCB seeking necessary action against these two coke plants. However, these two coke plants are still operating within the village and releasing dangerous pollution.
The ECC has also expressed surprise that one coke plant namely North East Carbon allegedly belonging to cabinet minister Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar has obtained both CTE and CTO in recent months despite public protests.
After the media exposed the same, the minister said that he would withdraw his partnership from this coke plant. However, ECC alleged that it was just a ploy since till date the company is operating with the minister as its partner.
The ECC has also flayed the action of the State government with regard to conduct of pollution load study. It may be noted that on July 3, 2019, the Supreme Court has upheld the report submitted by the Katoki Committee as well as the MPSCB regarding the environmental pollution caused by coke factories in East Jaintia Hills.
However, according to the ECC, the State government yet again conducted a pollution load study in the area with an estimated cost of Rs 52 lakh which is unwarranted and a huge waste of public money.
