GUWAHATI
A coal-rich district in Meghalaya would start demolishing more than 30 illegal coke plants on July 12.
Officials in the East Jaintia Hills district said the demolition drive could not be started on July 11 because of weather conditions and paucity of time.
“We shall start early morning tomorrow [July 12],” the district’s Deputy Commissioner, Abhilash Baranwal said, adding these coke plants do not possess the consent to establish from the Meghalaya Pollution Control Board.
East Jaintia Hills district has the highest number of illegal coke plants that had been flagged for polluting the environment.
On July 10, the authorities of the State’s West Khasi Hills district demolished three coke plants in the Shallang area and arrested five persons involved in running them illegally. Section 144 of the CrPC had been imposed in and around the areas where these plants were set up.
Officials said the demolition and arrests were made in compliance with an order of the High Court of Meghalaya in December 2022. Acting on public-interest litigation, the court said the illegal coke plants needed to be dismantled for restoring the region’s ecological balance.
