Give more time to panel on coke factories: James

SHILLONG, Oct 8: The expert technical committee, constituted by the state government, held its first meeting two days ago as a prelude to undertaking a comprehensive study on issues related to the Sutnga coke plants under the scanner.
Forest and Environment Minister, James Sangma said he does not expect the committee to come up with any kind of findings after one or two meetings.
“We will have to wait and watch till they go into the terms of references and conduct the study,” Sangma said.
Earlier, the Environment Coordination Committee (ECC) from Elaka Sutnga, based on purported RTI findings, had claimed the plants are producing more than 25,000 metric tonne (MT) of coke.
However, Sangma said, “I am not aware of any RTI findings which would indicate that these coke plants have surpassed their load capacity”.
Quoting the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB), he said the plants were granted permission only after being inspected. He said their oven load was also ascertained.
Earlier, it was informed that since the coke plants producing less than 25,000 MT per annum do not fall under the purview of Environmental Impact Assessment Notification 2006, the MSPCB notified the norms last year to control the ambient air quality. The notification makes a comprehensive environmental impact assessment and management plan mandatory.
The committee will suggest specific recommendations, including measures to safeguard the environment, public health issues, forest clearances, cluster situation and commissioning of pollution load study etc.
It is headed by BK Lyngwa, Chairman of MSPCB. The members are Naba Bhattacharjee, Chairman of State Expert Appraisal Committee; Prof (Dr) BK Tewari, former HoD, Dept of Environment Sciences, NEHU; Dr TSR Marak, Under Secretary, Forest and Environment department, and N Nengnong, former member-secretary, MSPCB.