State pollution control board to inspect cement plants in Jaintia Hills
SHILLONG: The State Government will not shy away from taking drastic action against those cement plants operating in Jaintia Hills which fail to conform to the various environmental norms.
“We would not hesitate to ask the cement companies in Jaintia Hills to stop their operations if it is found that they are violating the environmental laws,” Forest and Environment Minister Prestone Tynsong said on Wednesday.
Tynsong informed that a team of the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB), which is now functioning under his department, will conduct spot inspection of all the cement plants in Jaintia Hills to find out whether they were complying with the various laws on environment.
“The cement factories have to comply with the prescribed norms like installation of mechanism and adopting certain parameters to check and control the pollution emanating from their set-up which can affect the environment,” Tynsong said, while informing that the MPSCB team has been asked to submit its reports by May 31.
Earlier in the day, a delegation of KSU Narpuh Circle met Tynsong and expressed concern over the haphazard operation by the cement factories leading to gradual environmental degradation which is affecting the people ) and the region.
The KSU unit also submitted a petition accusing five cement plants – Star Cement, Topcem, Dalmia, JUD and CMCL – of directly releasing the wastes (such as fly ash) into the rivers, thereby polluting the water bodies such as the Lukha River.
On the issue of compensatory afforestation programme, Tynsong said that the nine cement plants in Jaintia Hills would have to take all responsibility to carry out the compensatory afforestation and also ensure proper care of all the saplings planted for the next five years.
“After the period of five years, the cement plants would have to hand over the land to the department,” Tynsong said, while announcing that the Government was contemplating to declare the land under compensatory afforestation as reserved forest.
Meanwhile, the Minister informed that the compensatory afforestation would be carried out over 1600 hectares of forest land, as per the findings of the Joint Inspection Team report which was approved by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.
He informed that the State Government had earlier intended to purchase land on behalf of the cement plants since the Meghalaya Transfer of Land (Regulation), 1971 does not allow the cement plants to purchase land.
The Government is now intending to ask the cement plants to negotiate directly with the land owners to acquire the land for compensatory afforestation, Tynsong added.
According to Tynsong, the State Government is still examining the ‘tripartite agreement’ to facilitate the land acquisition process.
He said that there are two agreements which have been prepared – the first will be signed by the Government and the cement plants while the second agreement will be signed between the cement plants and the land owners.
“We would soon place the agreement before the Cabinet for approval,” he said.
The nine companies in question are Adhunik Cement Limited, Amrit Cement Industries Limited, Cement Manufacturing Company Limited, Cosmos Cement Limited, Green Valley Industries Limited, Goldstone Cement Limited, Hills Cement Company Limited, JUD Cements Limited and Meghalaya Cement Limited.