Acting strictly on the directions of the High Court of Meghalaya, the East Jaintia Hills district administration has demolished unauthorised 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 unauthorised coke plants operating within the district. He stated that the joint team, functioning under the supervision of the 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 unauthorised units.
The Deputy Commissioner stated that a total of 16 coke plants had been identified in the district as having been set up without obtaining the necessary authorisations 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 indicating whether they had obtained the required permissions for regularisation; however, no response was received from the concerned coke plants.
Accordingly, and 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 unauthorised coke plants, with the demolition drive commencing on Saturday, December 13, 2025. As of the date of reporting, the joint teams have successfully demolished seven of the 11 unauthorised 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 coke plants that were unauthorised are now not in operation, added the Deputy Commissioner.
