TURA, Feb 4: West Garo Hills (WGH) Deputy Commissioner Jagdish Chelani on Sunday clamped Section 144 to check illegal brick kilns and sawmills that have mushroomed in the plain belt of the district.
Last week, the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB) sought the promulgation of this section of the CrPC to take action against the illegal setups that the Supreme Court had banned earlier.
The complainants hope the promulgation will help the authorities take action against these illegal setups.
Nazmul Hashan, one of the complainants, said the brick kilns and sawmills have been allowed to operate with impunity for a long time.
“What is the use of the administration if it turns a blind eye to such illegalities when everyone is suffering?” he asked.
He said the brick kilns have come up even on heritage and protected sites apart from being too close to residential areas, posing a health hazard.
“In Rajpur, an illegal brick kiln has been set up near an archaeological site. Why are departments so scared of taking action against them? Neither the GHADC nor the state Forest Department is willing to take action against these illegal setups,” he said. There are an estimated 500 illegal brick kilns in the district’s plain belt and some villages are surrounded by at least 30 of these.
“The Forest Department can seize these kilns as they use timber as fuel. The timber is brought illegally from the reserve forests in the hills,” an affected villager said on condition of anonymity, wondering if the brick kiln operators are being patronised by people in power.
The villagers also said Meghalaya should take note of how the Assam government cracked down on illegal brick kilns in the South Salmara-Mankachar district.
MSPCB officials said they found more than 30 illegal brick kilns in the Gorband area under the Rajabala constituency during a site visit. “All these units continued operating despite being served with shutdown notices, probably because there was no restrictive order in place,” an official said.
A team comprising police and other officials concerned will visit the area again to enforce compliance with the norms, he said.
Hashan said the complainants may approach the court if the district authorities fail to take action against the illegal brick kilns and sawmills.
