Shillong (Meghalaya), May 08: The Jaintia National Council has threatened to march to the Meghalaya Secretariat if the government fails to respond by May 15 to its objections against Shree Cement’s Environment Impact Assessment for a proposed mine in East Jaintia Hills.
In a press statement Friday, the JNC Central Executive Committee said it submitted written objections on April 30 to the MSPCB, SEIAA Meghalaya and MoEF&CC regional office but received “complete silence” from the state government.
The JNC flagged three “admitted violations” printed in the draft EIA itself. First, page 1 states the Terms of Reference were issued by “SEAC Gujarat & SEIAA” after the project was considered by the Gujarat panel. “This project is in East Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya. How did SEIAA Meghalaya accept an EIA document explicitly addressed to a Gujarat authority?” the JNC asked.
Second, the EIA classifies the area under Seismic Zone VI using an Indian Standard the Bureau of Indian Standards withdrew on March 3, 2026. The EIA was submitted on April 7, 2026 — 35 days later. “How can a public hearing be held where the Disaster Management Plan is written on a law the Government of India itself has already cancelled?” the statement said.
Third, the JNC said the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council, which holds Sixth Schedule authority over land and resources, is “entirely absent” from the EIA. The buffer zone is 98.79% Scheduled Tribe population, as per the EIA’s own table. “What does the JHADC’s silence mean for the constitutional rights of every tribal family in Elaka Nongkhlieh?”
Citing the recent scrapping of Lumpongdeng Island from the Taj Resort project at Umiam Lake after protests, the JNC asked: “The people of Nongkhlieh Elaka, East Jaintia Hills are they less deserving of that same respect?”
JNC president Sambormi Lyngdoh said farmers opposing the project “found no hearing from the government” and alleged that during the December 2025 Daistong plant hearing, “original local residents were physically prevented from entering the hearing venue — blocked by individuals acting in the interests of the company.” He added, “We did not write for formality. We wrote with evidence. And that evidence demands a response.”
The JNC warned it will “escalate its protest directly to the Meghalaya Secretariat” if no official reply comes by May 15. The public hearing for the mine is scheduled for May 22.
