Tura: In a major crackdown, West Garo Hills (WGH), deputy commissioner, Jagdish Chelani, on Sunday signed off on the promulgation of Sec 144 CrPC over the sprouting of hundreds of illegal brick clamps and sawmills that have mushroomed in the plain belt of the district.
The Meghalaya Pollution Control Board (MPCB) earlier last week had sought Sec 144 CrPC to be issued in an attempt to take action against these illegal setups that even the Supreme Court has banned.
The absence of an order to dismantle these illegal setups, despite the MPCB directive, had been a source of frustration for numerous complainants who had sought their closure. The promulgation now brings a sense of relief and optimism that decisive action will be taken.
“We are truly shocked that these setups are being allowed to run with such impunity. What is the use of the administration if they continue to turn a blind eye to such illegalities while every one of us is suffering,” asked Nazmul Hashan, one of the complainants.
Hashan stated that the sprouting of these brick clamps has posed a health hazard due to them being close to residential areas. As per reports, some of these clamps have even come up on heritage and protected sites in the plain belt.
“In Rajpur, an illegal brick clamp has been set up near the archaeological site and will overtake the site soon. Why are departments so scared of taking action against them? Neither is the GHADC or the state Forest department willing to act on these set ups despite the fact that these are all illegal. This really leads us to the question as to whether there is the rule of law in our area,” said Nazmul.
What has added to the worries is the fact that the number of such setups could reach as many as 500 if counted properly. Some villages, as per reports, have close to 30 such setups while in others the numbers are even bigger.
“The Forest department has every right to act and seize these clamps as they are using timber as fuel. The timber is coming from the various reserves in the hilly sections of the region and is being brought illegally. Besides, brick clamps (Bangla Bhata) are illegal so why is there any hesitancy to act? There is definitely something behind the scene that is being played out or we would not be in such a situation,” added another resident on condition of anonymity.
What has been frustrating for locals, concerned over what is taking place, is the fact that the neighbouring district in Assam, South Salmara, cracked down totally against these illegal brick clamps in the Mankachar area. This crackdown and the lack of it in the state of Meghalaya has posed serious questions about what exactly is taking place.
Upon being contacted, the Meghalaya Pollution Control Board (MPCB) which had earlier issued directions for the promulgation of Sec 144 CrPC to control what was taking place in the plain belt stated that they were doing their best to ensure compliance.
Earlier a site visit by the MPCB had revealed more than 30 such illegal brick clamps in just the Gorband area in the Rajabala constituency which have all been given shutdown notices. However despite their notices, all of these setups are currently running in full swing without heeding to the warnings of the environmental watchdogs of the state.
“We will be visiting the area once again and try to enforce compliance through a joint operation involving the police, state, and GHADC forest, the district administration among others. We will act on the matter as quickly as possible,” informed a highly placed MPCB source from Garo Hills.
For complainant Nazmul Hashan the situation that has arisen has left him pondering what more can be done to ensure the environment does not take another beating.
“We initially tried the local district administration before seeking out the MPCB. When all of these did not work (as they were unwilling to act for reasons best known to them), we contacted the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Maybe the only way forward for us is to approach the Court to seek action. The Supreme Court has clearly said that these pollution-causing clamps are not allowed so action should have followed immediately after complaints were received but we have seen nothing at all. This is really strange,” said Hashan.
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Upon contacting the DC this evening, the DC confirmed that an order is being taken out even as he was contacted on both the presence of illegal brick clamps as well as illegal sawmills which have been running the entire plain belt ragged, being complicit in each others’ activities.
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