State Forest Department of Meghalaya Green Signal to Mining at Brichyrnot

Dr. HH MohrmenOctober 14, 2019

JOWAI: The public hearing to be conducted by the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board on the basis of the application made by Star Cement Manufacturing Ltd or commonly known as Star Cement to avail a mining lease for starting of another limestone mining unit near Brichyrnot a village under the Narpuh eleka is a farce.

In spite of the fact that the proposed mining site at Brichyrnot is located near the eco Sensitive Zone and the Narpuh Wild Life Sanctuary the State Forest Department has indirectly campaign for allowing mining even before the hearing by certifying that the 42.6 ha plot of land /42.051 ha was classed by the Forest Department of the state non-forest area. As per the certificate issued by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and HoFF, Meghalaya Shillong dated 11th October 2019 while referring to the letter from this same department vides Memo No. MFG.16/50/CMCL/Vol-III/7849-855 dated Shillong 29th August, 2018 the letter established that the mentioned area falls in the category of non-forest land.

The presence of wildlife and rich biodiversity which include hundreds of birds, butterflies and animals in the forest was confirmed by a study and it was also found that there are also considerable numbers of hillock gibbons in the Narpuh forest. (Youtube video ‘Narpuh Wildlife Sanctuary- Saving the Last refuge.’) The Narpuh Wildlife Sanctuary is the only sanctuary in both the East West Jaiñtia hills District and one of the few sanctuaries that we have in the entire state.

In the same certificate the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest also informed that the aerial distance of the proposed mining area from Narpuh Wildlife Sanctuary is 1.46 KM and 0.25 KM away from the Eco Sensitive zone. What this means is that the PCCF & HoFF indirectly clarified that the area is beyond the limit prescribed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court which is 1.20 KM, hence mining should be issue.  But will the same forest department assure the public that the company will not encroached in the future?

Now the question will is using heavy machines and even explosives by the mining companies not have adverse impact on the wildlife because of the proximity of the mining area to the Wildlife Sanctuary.

Besides the question is not only about forest, but it is about the river Lukha too. The proposed mining area is also located near the river Lukha and this will have a devastating impact on the already fragile ecology of the river. Lukha was already in the news for the wrong reason and the pollution of which was also caused both by coal mining and cement production.

Young people in the area have already started promoting tourism in the area with a hope that it will create sustainable employment and improve the economy of the area, but the fate of their venture will now depend on the outcome of the hearing. The endeavour and hope of the youths in the area will become futile if the government allow the company to go ahead with mining in the area.

And talking about pollution what has the Meghalaya Pollution Control Board done anything in the area besides conducting hearings? The question is does the Board has any records of the quality of air and water in the region? Has the Board installed any instrument to record the air quality in the area? The fact that there are already 8 cement plants in the area should at least make the head of this board think about the quality of the air in the area, but unfortunately till today there is no daily sharing of quality of air from the area. Narpuh is like a Special Economic Zone of itself but there is no measurement of air or water quality in the area.

The Chief Minister of the state is vocal about the need to protect the environment and has initiated the project of planting one million tree saplings recently, but the important question is, has the MDA government even constituted the State Wildlife Board? The Chief Minister by virtue of office is the chair of the board and he is therefore to the blame for the failure.

The next important question that is about the numbers of local people employed in these cements plants. What is the percentage of local employed in the different cement plants? Did the companies adhere to the agreement to engage seventy percent of the local workforce in the plants? Isn’t it true that companies appoint non locals to all the plump post in all the cement plants in the area and locals were only appointed to middle rank position and also in some clerical jobs? SMCL or Start Cement apart from having its own plant at Lumchnong and its own captive power plant, the company also has another plant in Assam and is using clinker from Lumchnong to produce cement from the plant in Assam.

The question is also why is it that none of the cement companies have any regional offices either in Khliehriat or even in Shillong and the corporate offices of all the cement companies are located outside the state. But the most important question is about the different companies Corporate Social Responsible fund, how and where these companies spend their CSR. It is also not clear how the different companies used their CSR because more often that not they use the umbrella organisation of the different cement companies known as the Jaintia Hills Cement Manufacture Association (JHCMA) to support local cause.

It is now clear that the Forest Department of state as per its letter Memo No. MFG.16/50/SCML/15123-124 dated Shillong the 11th October, issued by the office of the PCCF is indirectly campaign for issuing of mining lease to the company and the area of 42.6 ha/42.051 has already been ascertained as non forest by the same department.