SHILLONG: The State Government-constituted high-level committee, which has been assigned the task to ascertain whether the cement plants in Jaintia Hills are mining limestone from forest areas, is likely to submit its report within November. “The Committee is going to submit its report in November. The State Government has purposely constituted this Committee to establish whether the cement plants in Jaintia Hills are really mining limestone from forest areas,” Forest and Environment Minister Prestone Tynsong said while speaking to reporters here on Wednesday. “All the doubts over the mining activities of the cement plants would be cleared once the Committee submits its report,” Tynsong asserted. Commenting on the No Objection Certificates (NOCs) obtained by the cement plants from the Government, Tynsong said there were strong indications that the cement plants were involved in limestone mining in non-forest areas. He said the State Government had issued the NOCs through a single window agency after verifying all the necessary documents submitted by those companies who wanted to set up cement plants in the State. While pointing out that if the cement plants in Jaintia Hills are found to have violated the clauses of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, Tynsong asserted that these companies would have to compensate by acquiring new land and transforming them into forested areas. “The concerned companies would have to hand over the land to the department after converting them into forest land,” Tynsong added. Referring to Lafarge Umiam Mining Private Limited (LUMPL) which is mining limestone at Nongtrai, Shella, he said the Supreme Court had directed LUMPL to compensate for a huge stretch of forest land where they had carried out limestone mining. The State Government had constituted the high-level following a letter from the Union Government questioning the legality of the NOCs issued to eight cement plants in Jaintia Hills without getting clearance from the MoEF. The Committee was instituted following the recommendations of the Central Empowered Committee constituted by the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the Nationalist Youth Congress (NYC) of the NCP has complained to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) alleging flouting of rules and procedures by cement companies operating in Jaintia Hills district. The NYC on Wednesday said it had submitted a complaint to BN Jha, Chief Conservator of Forests (C), MoEF, on the violation of rules and procedures by the cement companies.