Cement plants in Jaintia Hills
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Amidst growing demands for closure of all cement companies operating in forest areas of Jaintia Hills, the State government has said that three companies have set up plants in the district without forest clearance.
Informing this, a senior Forest department official told The Shillong Times here said, “We have not issued any forest clearance to three companies and they are Goldstone, Amrit Cement and Cosmos”.
The issue of ‘forest clearance’ had hit the headlines when a high-level committee in its report said that several cement companies have encroached into the forest land in Jaintia Hills.
Forest minister Prestone Tynsong has already made it clear that the department would take stringent action against those cement companies which had set up plants by violating Forest Conservation Act, 1980 (operating in “thick” forested areas).
In this regard, the official said the regional office of the Ministry of Environment and Forest and the State Forest department need to conduct inspections on regular basis.
“The ball is now in the Government’s court since we can not conduct inspection without the Government’s approval,” the official said.
Following a visit to the sites in November last year, the committee was of the view that the plants were located in “thick” forest areas.
“The committee members who visited these cement company sites found that these companies indeed were in the thick forested areas. Going by the yardstick of the United Khasi-Jaintia Hills Autonomous District (Management and Control of Forests) Act, 1958, these companies are situated in the middle of the forest,” the report said.
The cement plants are located in places like Lumshnong, Thangskai, Wahiajer, Old Musiang, Nongsning and Umlaper under Khliehriat sub-division,
“Some of the companies may have gone ahead of their limits but clearance was given only after verifying all the details,” the official added.