From Our Spl Correspondent
New Delhi: Cement Manufacturing Company Limited (CMCL), otherwise known as Star Cement, on Thursday said that the company has not violated any environment rules and dared for thorough verification and on the spot visit.
In a statement, Pankaj Kejriwal, Executive Director of CMCL asked both the State and the Centre to ‘re-verify’ the status of land on which the company operates. The Cement Manufacturing Company Limited is an environment conscious company and has taken all the steps to comply with environmental safeguards, he said.
The CMCL is not working in any forest land and there is no violation of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, Kejriwal said. “However, we have written to the State Forest Department and the Regional Office of the Ministry of Environment & Forests to re-verify the status of land in terms of the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court’s judgment issued in July,” he added.
This will remove “wrong perception” that CMCL is working in forest area and could be corrected forever, the statement said.
“We are once again taking up the matter with the State and the Centre for an early site visit to resolve the issue in terms of the Supreme Court’s order,” he said.
The cement company’s issues have taken a serious turn with some NGOs taking up the matter in the Supreme Court. While the main opposition party NCP has demanded for closure of all the eight cement plants including that of CMCL, Forest and Environment Minister Prestone Tynsong had said action will be taken if the cement companies are found violating the forest rules.
In a report submitted to the Government, a six-member high-level committee (HLC) set up by the Government had found out that all eight cement companies operating in Jaintia Hills were established in the thickly forested areas.
The committee discovered that the cement plants are located in places like Lumshnong, Thangskai, Wahiajer, Old Musiang, Nongsning and Umlaper under Khliehriat sub-division, which were once frequented by herds of elephants and barking deer but are now non-existent.
There are eight cement plants – Cement Manufacture Co Ltd (Star Cement), Meghalaya Cement Ltd (Topcem), Adhunik Cement Ltd, JUD Cement Private Ltd, Hill Cement Company Ltd, Goldstone Cement Ltd, Green Valley Industries Ltd, and Amrit Cement Industries Ltd – in Jaintia Hills alone. Another company, Meghalaya Minerals & Mines Ltd, is also located in Lumshnong.
But the brave front put up by the CMCL is interesting since the company also wants to go by the Supreme Court ruling and agrees with the official committee report for an on the spot verification.
The company is claiming to have all the requisite permission from every authority starting from the traditional bodies to the State Government and the Center and even abiding by the guidelines of the apex court.