By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The RTI findings on the cement plants in Jaintia Hills has exposed the connivance of the various Government departments including the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) and the traditional bodies which allowed the cements plants to carry out mining inside the forest areas in gross violation of the Forest Conservation Act.
This revelation about the manipulation by the different agencies to serve the interest of the cement factories in Jaintia Hills was made during the public hearing organised by the Meghalaya Right to Information Movement (MRTIM) which was held at Don Bosco Youth Centre here on Thursday.
The RTI findings reveal that the Forest and Environment department had claimed that the areas where the cement plants are proposed to be set up are in non-forest areas.
“As far as matter with Forest department is concerned, the factory site does not fall under the purview of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. Also the raw material for running the factory does not consist of forest produce. As such, we have no objection for M/s Cements Manufacturing Co Limited setting up the cement manufacturing plant at Lumshnong,” Principal Chief Conservator of Forest VK Nautiyal said in official communiqué sent to the Director of Industries and Single Window Agency (SWA) on November 14, 2003.
Besides the Government departments, the RTI findings also showed that even the JHADC and the various traditional bodies in Jaintia Hills while issuing the NOC to these cement plants have claimed that the areas where the cement plants are proposed to be set up are non-forest areas.
“The proposed sites for establishment of cement plant by M/s Adhunik Cement Limited having a total area of 45,000 hectares is a non-forest land and is not recorded as forest in any of the land records maintained by the JHADC,” the JHADC Chief Forest Officer said in the NOC issued for setting up of the cement factory on October 16, 2006.
Despite claiming that the areas where the cement plant is proposed to be set up is not recorded as forest by the Council, the JHADC however is contradicting itself by failing to provide the RTI information which was sought on the total forest areas under the Council.
In its reply, the JHADC said that they are yet to survey the forest areas under Council.
Not only this, the JHADC also failed to give a convincing reply on the RTI information which was sought on the maps of the forest areas since 2000 showing the forest cover where the cement companies are set up.
In their reply to this RTI query the JHADC claimed that there are no records with the Council,
But the information which was provided by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) under the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment confirms that all the eight cement plants in Jaintia Hills are operating and carrying out the mining of limestone inside forest areas.
Meanwhile, the Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (C) has written to Chief Secretary WMS Pariat on the “non-forest use of deemed forests without obtaining prior permission of central government on very large scale in Jaintia Hills by cement companies.”
In one of the paragraphs of the letter Jha said the cement companies get the land cleared of forest through the community and other means before taking formal possession of land.
The letter also pointed out that to circumvent the provisions of local laws which may lead to alienation of tribal lands some local tribals are taken on the board of their companies.
The Additional Chief Conservator of Forest also stated in the letter that to ward off provisions of obtaining environmental clearance, the cement companies have indicated that they have acquired land less than five hectares even though in reality they have large areas in possession in one place.
“In my opinion, the collective violations of the Forest Conservation Act by cement plants in Jaintia Hills are much bigger, serious and damaging than in the case of Lafarge Umiam Mining at Nongtrai,” the official said.
During the public hearing, MRTIM chairman Michael N Syiem said, “The replies that we received from the various Government agencies prove that these are forest areas and they (Government) knowingly gave consent to the cement plants to be set up there.”
Calling it “daylight” destruction of the environment in Jaintia Hills, the anti-graft activist said, “Despite the wanton destruction of our environment these cement companies are getting Central and State subsidies.”
The MRTIM chairman also said that if these cement companies were to compensate for mining in forests areas the value would be much higher than what the Lafarge Umiam Private Limited (LUMPL) paid.