VPP seeks cancellation of Shri Cement public hearing in East Jaintia Hills

CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG: The Voice of the People’s Party (VPP) has called for the cancellation of the public hearing for the proposed Shri Cement project and demanded a halt to the establishment of new cement and coke plants in Meghalaya, citing mounting environmental pressure in East Jaintia Hills. VPP legislator Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit said industrial pollution and its impact on water resources and the environment had reached a level where parts of the Sutunga area could become “uninhabitable within few years”. Talking to media persons after the Assembly session, the VPP chief said, “Our stand as far as the Shri Cement is concerned is to cancel the public hearing. It was not carried out in a democratic and transparent manner, and the stand of the party is that for now we want the government to stop all kind of plants, coke plants and cement plants, because the pressure on the environment, especially in East Jaintia Hills, is huge. There are some areas in Sutunga area which will become uninhabitable within few years. So because of the cement factory, the pollution, the water, the environment, so we stand with the people of Sutunga elaka, we stand with the people of East Jaintia Hills where, for now, we don’t want any cement plant to be set up, any coke plants to be set up.” The VPP’s opposition extends beyond the proposed Shri Cement project, with the party seeking a broader halt to new cement and coke plants in the region. Basaiawmoit said the environmental burden on East Jaintia Hills was already substantial and that further industrial activity could aggravate the situation.

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