By Our Reporter
Shillong: The death of thousands of fish at Wah Lukha in Jaintia Hills and Ranikor river is directly linked mushrooming of cement plants and unscientific mining activities being carried out in the two districts of the state, says the KSU.
“The rise in number of cement plants in Jaintia Hills has posed a great threat not only to the forests and environment but also the aquatic lives to the extend that all the rivers are poisoned making survival of aquatic lives almost impossible”, KSU Environment and Cultural Secretary J Marbaniang said.
Expressing concern over the issue, the KSU has asked the state government to adopt a new plan of action while limiting the issuance of NOC to cement companies as well as other companies in the state.
“Instead of contributing anything substantial for the welfare of the indigenous communities, these companies are putting us all in grave danger,” Marbaniang said.
Turning to the recent death of fish at Ranikor river, the KSU leader blamed unscientific mining of uranium by the Maheshwari company at Porkut area in West Khasi Hills saying ‘Till date, we haven’t received any clear report on the enquiry conducted by different government departments in this connection’.
In this connection, the union has decided to celebrate this year’s World Environment Day laying special emphasis on aquatic lives besides planting trees and samplings all over the states through its various units and circles.
It may be mentioned that Deputy Chief Minister, Bindo M Lanong, also in charge of Mining and Geology has accepted that the pollution of Rivers in Jaintia Hills is not due to the present of cement plants, but due to unscientific mining in the district.
The Mukul Sangma-led Meghalaya government had said preliminary investigations suggest that the death of fish in Ranikor river was due to ‘use of toxic substances by locals’ in coal mining. The government had ordered a probe into it.