Meghalaya: Unauthorized coke plants demolished in East Jaintia Hills district

CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG: Acting strictly on the directions of the High Court of Meghalaya, the East Jaintia Hills district administration has demolished all 11 remaining unauthorized coke plants operating illegally in the district, marking a decisive enforcement push against environmental violations.

Deputy Commissioner of East Jaintia Hills district, Shivansh Awasthi, IAS, informed that a joint team was constituted to undertake the demolition of unauthorized coke plants operating in the district. He stated that the joint team, functioning under the supervision of Sub-Divisional Officer Manish Kumar, IAS, and comprising officials from the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board and the Police Department, was directed to carry out the demolition of all such unauthorized units.

The Deputy Commissioner said that a total of 16 coke plants had been identified in the district as having been set up without obtaining the necessary authorizations as per the norms and criteria laid down under the relevant government notification, of which five had already been demolished earlier. For the remaining 11 coke plants, notices were issued in October 2025 directing the owners to submit compliance details indicating whether they had obtained the required permissions for regularization. However, no response was received from the concerned coke plant owners.

Accordingly, in pursuance of the directions of the High Court of Meghalaya, instructions were issued to the joint teams to proceed with the demolition of the remaining 11 unauthorized coke plants. The demolition drive commenced on Saturday, December 13, 2025. As of the date of reporting, the joint teams had successfully demolished seven of the 11 unauthorized coke plants, while in the case of the remaining four, it was observed that they had already been demolished by the respective owners.

In total, all 11 unauthorized coke plants are now non-operational, the Deputy Commissioner added.

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