GUWAHATI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) East Zone bench has ordered 31 illegal coke plants in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district to pay a fine of over Rs 4.75 crore as environmental compensation and directed the state government to develop an action plan against such plants set up before 2021 within four months. The 31 coke oven plants in East Jaintia Hills district were functioning without necessary permission from the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB). In terms of environmental compensation recovery, the tribunal said no additional decision is necessary except to direct the State Pollution Control Board for recovery of environmental compensation as per the procedure established by law.
The MSPCB is also directed to continuously monitor the coke plants to check whether the environmental norms have been violated and if so, take action as per law.On May 10, 2022, mspcb filed an affidavit informing the NGT that it had inspected 31 coke plants against which complaints were filed in east Jaintia Hills district court. It needs to be mentioned here that except for two Coke units, no other unit is located within a distance of 500 m from a village. The Kolkata-based Eastern Zone bench of the NGT directed 31 illegal coke plants to pay a fine of Rs 4.75 crore as environmental compensation for failing to comply with the legal process.
The bench headed by judicial member B Amit Sthalekar consisted of expert member Saibal Dasgupta. Following the decision, all the illegal coke factories in Meghalaya have been closed down. This was stated by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Tuesday. Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma made the statement refuting allegations that illegal Coke factories were still operating. Refuting the allegations, Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma said: “So far, whatever coke plants were illegally set up in the state of Meghalaya have been asked to be closed. Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma said, “Only those who have got the environment clearance. Only they are allowed to work. The Meghalaya Chief Minister further said, “So I would like to state that there is no question of any illegal coke plant working (in Meghalaya). What do coke factories do?In a coke factory, coal is heated to 1250c in the absence of oxygen. It removes any impurities in coal, resulting in coke, which is a porous substance that is almost all carbon.
