Mushrooming Coke Factories Spark Protests In Mehalayala's Jaintia Hills

The National Green Tribunal has placed a carpet ban on coal mining in Meghalaya.

Hundreds of residents of Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district are up in arms against a burgeoning of allegedly illegal coke factories in their neighbourhood. They have served a five-day ultimatum to authorities to shut these facilities down, failing which they will chalk out a plan of action. The residents of several villages under East Jaintia Hills' Elaka Sutnga have come together to form the Environment Coordination Committee (ECC). Today, they staged a protest against the coke factories. "These plants are emitting dangerous gases and particulate matter which are beyond the permissible limit. These coke plants are taking advantage of the consent to operate. They emit smoke without considering the serious impact on the ecology," an agitated protester told NDTV. Coke is a high-carbon-content fuel with few impurities. Made by heating coal or oil in the absence of air, it is an important industrial product, used mainly in iron ore smelting.