SHILLONG, Feb 10: A day after a few students of the Don Bosco Higher Secondary School, Byrnihat reportedly fell ill and vomited on Thursday due to the fugitive pollutants emitted from the M/s Commercial Iron and Steel Co. Pvt Ltd, Byrnihat, a team of officials from the Ri-Bhoi district administration, including L Kharmon, MCS, and YF Laloo, Environmental Engineer, Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB) visited the plant on Friday to investigate the allegations.
Interestingly, during the visit of media persons as well as the team of officials from the district administration and MSPCB, the smoke emission from the plant has been reduced drastically as a few units of the plant were shut down after videos of the students falling ill went viral on social media on Thursday.
S Nongrum, the headman of Harlibagan, under whose jurisdiction the factory is located, said locals, especially the students of Don Bosco Higher Secondary School, face this pollution onslaught from time to time.
They also informed that though they have filed several complaints against the company, no visible action has been taken so far by the concerned authority. The company is functioning without any respect for environmental norms or concern for the plights of the residents.
When asked when the school was set up, the headman informed that the school was established in 1977. Stating that he was too young at that time to remember the history, Nongrum said the factory was established at a much later stage. “Earlier, this particular factory, located just a few meters away from the school was a jute factory. Later it was abandoned and after a few years this present factory was set up in the location,” he said.
Further, the village leaders also informed that even the no objection certificate (NOC) for operating the factory had already expired in November 2022, and that though the village had sent an official letter to the owner of the company, Surrendra Kumar Mittal for renewal of the NOC, till date there has been no response and the factory is running without the NOC. “This clearly shows that the owner of the factory does not respect and recognize the power and authority of the village as empowered by the law of the land under the provision of the District Autonomous Council,” the Rangbah Shnong stated.
Meanwhile, Principal of Don Bosco Higher Secondary School, Fr Kmenlang Nongrum while speaking to The Shillong Times expressed fear for his life as he stated that the issue has spiralled out of control and he feels that people have begun to label him as a pressure group leader just because he raises this issue from time to time.
“I am a priest of the Catholic Church by profession. God’s word tells me to forgive everyone for their wrongdoings, but I cannot stand to see my students and children facing this kind of problems from time to time, therefore I had to raise this issue,” Fr Kmenlang said.
A teacher of the school, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that this has been an issue for several decades and not only the students but even the villagers had to suffer from the smoke emitted by this factory and others located nearby.
It may be noted that the company has been in the news from time to time for its flagrant violation of the terms and conditions laid down in the consent to operate (CTO) and the MSPCB in its inspection carried out on July 26, 2022 had observed that the pollution control devices installed were broken and a lot of fugitive emission arises out of the plant, following which a fine of Rs 5 lakh was imposed on the company on November 14, 2022 for violating the terms and conditions of the CTO granted under Section 21 of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, and Section 25 & 26 of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, and the closure notice issued.
Further the Environment Engineer of MSPCB, YF Laloo, informed media persons that he has proposed installation of CCTV cameras inside the plants so as to prevent any kind of violation of environmental norms and misuse of devices by the factories or their workers.
