SHILLONG, Aug 2: In recent times there has been a loud protest in the mainstream and social media by residents of Sutnga Elaka about the industrial pollution from mushrooming coke factories. Having reached the end of their tether with an unresponsive government and suffered silently from serious air pollution, the residents of various villages under Elaka Sutnga in East Jaintia Hills on Tuesday will be holding a protest rally near the Deputy Commissioner’s office at Khliehriat to demand the closure of illegal coke factories operating in the area.
The villagers had sought permission to allow 50 people to take part in the protest rally. Deputy Commissioner, Ethelbert Kharmalki, however allowed only 20.
Following the announcement of this protest rally, the Deputy Commissioner on Monday issued an order directing all illegal coke factories operating under Elaka Sutnga to stop all their operations immediately.
In the order, Kharmalki stated that the district administration will close down all the illegal coke factories which do not possess the Consent To Operate (CTO).
On July 15, the Deputy Commissioner had issued a closure notice. But none of the coke factories had complied with this order.
When contacted, Reading War, legal adviser of Environment Coordination Committee of Elaka Sutnga, said that a total of 48 coke factories got the single window clearance.
According to him, 32 of these coke factories got the single window clearance this year under the Chairmanship of the Chief Minister.
He informed that six of the coke factories had got the Consent To Establish (CTE) and another seven got the Consent To Operate (CTO) from the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB).
According to him, there are only two coke factories — Abhi coke factory at Lad Rymbai and Jaintia coke factory at Umtyra — which are recognised by the Commerce and Industries department.
He said that the two coke factories have also got permission from the Department of Factories and Boilers and also from the Revenue and Disaster Management department.
War said that the other factories have started operation only after obtaining the CTO and CTE.
The legal adviser said that the CTO is only a prerequisite document to proceed with setting up of industries adding that they will need to get permission from other line departments to be able to start their operations.
Stating that all these coke factories got the single window clearance to operate as a stand-alone unit, he said that all these industries are setting up and operating as clusters.
“As per the guidelines laid down by the MSPCB, all stand-alone factories should operate 1 km away from human habitation, 500 meters away from the PWD roads and 200 meters away from rivers and streams. But the majority of these coke factories are operating inside the habitations and within 100 meters from them,” War said.
He said that one coke unit should be one kilometer away from the other coke unit.
Meanwhile, the legal adviser also claimed that all the 32 coke factories which got the single window clearance this year are the owners of the coke factories which were closed down in Arunachal Pradesh last year.
“Majority of these people are from Assam,” War added.
