Editor,
The setting up of private thermal power plants by some industries in the EPIP Area of Byrnihat has polluted the environment of the locality to such an extent that it has become very difficult for the people living here to get fresh air. It is surprising that the industries operating in Byrnihat have been given a license to destroy its environment without any regard for the living population. Thanks to our ‘pay and have’ regulation free culture that firms like Shyam Century and Maithan Smelters are wantonly polluting the environment with their thermal plants without any accountability. The fly ash generated by these thermal plants has completely destroyed the greenery of Byrnihat and is now threatening to wipe out even the natural water resources here. The guardian of Meghalaya’s environment, the Meghalaya Pollution Control Board is turning a blind eye to these realities despite knowing everything. Why? Because they are least concerned about Meghalaya’s environment, leave alone Byrnihat’s. The NGO’s too have failed to do anything meaningful mainly because these industries are their main sponsors. The irony is such that one NGO even organizes environment programmes every year by collecting donations from factories that are actually the source of our environmental degradation. If the destroyers of our environment are allowed to participate in our environment awareness programmes then what is the use of organising such programmes?
I would like to call upon every right thinking citizen and the schools in and around Byrnihat to boycott such programmes in future because we cannot be a party to our own destruction. Only we have the key to offsetting this lurking danger and not the self interested groups who show their presence only during Environment Day celebration by distributing free T-shirts and disappear the next day after their interest is served. Do you think they really care for our environment?
No, they are interested only in the money that the programme generates. Coming back to the issue of thermal plants, it is tragic that the people of Byrnihat are yet to take a stand against the problem of fly ash. Perhaps they don’t know the magnitude of the danger lurking over us. But if we don’t make the right noises now and take these polluters head on, then I am afraid we have to insure ourselves at the earliest so that we can leave healthy bank balances rather than a healthy environment for our dear ones. But I hope that the people of Byrnihat will rise to the occasion and act against this common and imminent threat to our survival before ‘Doom’ becomes inevitable for us.
Yours etc.,
A concerned citizen