Correspondent
RUKSIN, 23 Sep: The local villagers of Ruksin area in East Siang district have resorted to a blockade against material supply and transportation of factory products to the silicon factory at the Niglok Industrial Growth Centre (IGC) since Sunday, in protest against the state government’s alleged inaction in shifting the factory from the IGC.
The protesters, under the banner of the IGC – Pollution Affected People’s Forum, have taken position in Ralung village portion of the Mirem-Mikong-Jonai road to check vehicles transporting raw materials and factory products.
The protesters are aggrieved that the Industry Department is not addressing their demand for shifting the silicon factory to a sustainable non-residential area as the factory creates environmental pollution in the surrounding villages.
The forum had earlier staged a series of protests in support of their demand, but to no avail.
On 28 August, the protesters had blocked the national highway for 12 hours to mark their protest.
Alleging that the silicon industry run by M/s Aether Alloys LLP is violating the Factories Act, 1948, the protesters said that the industry authority did not conduct any public hearing before establishing the silicon factory.
It alleged that the Industry Department neither issued a public notice nor conducted any hearing over the establishment of the silicon factory. Instead, it collected an NOC from the local gaon buras, who were not aware about its impact.
Meanwhile, the National Green Tribunal (NGT),following a news published in this daily in late June this year, has taken suo motu cognizance of pollution from the silicon factory running from the IGC in Niglok.
