Mining firm bypassed State Govt
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: A private firm, which has been engaged by the Atomic and Mineral Department (AMD) to conduct exploratory mining for uranium in West Khasi Hills, did not take any permission for their operation in the State.
Maheswari Mining Pvt Ltd from West Bengal had bypassed the State Government though it had obtained a one-year license from the KHADC to carry out its drilling activities at Porkut-Nongjri just opposite to Domiasiat where an UCIL project is hanging in the balance for years.
Talking to reporters here on Thursday after meeting AMD officials, the Deputy Chief Minister and in-charge Mining and Geology, Bindo M Lanong said, “They should have informed us about the matter.”
The South West Khasi Hills unit of the KSU had earlier set a deadline for the State Government and the KHADC to take legal action against the company for exploring uranium in the State.
The AMD had outsourced the mining operation to company, Lanong said, adding, the company had also signed an agreement with the local people of the area.
The KHADC license to the company for conducting mining operations will expire on March 31 next year. According to Lanong, the company has finished its drilling activities and its entire operations will be over very soon.
He, significantly, denied that the ongoing drilling is to facilitate uranium mining in the State.
“The exploratory work has no connection with uranium mining in the State,” Lanong added.
The AMD Regional Director, R Mohanty, too maintained that this is just an exploratory work and no mining activities are taking place in the site.
“Exploratory works have been going on in Meghalaya since 1978-79 and this drilling is just to find out whether there is uranium or not,” Mohanty told reporters after his meeting with the Deputy Chief Minister.
The KSU unit alleged that the company had never obtained permission or clearance even from Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB), Divisional Forest Officer, Khasi Hills and Directorate of Mineral Resources, and NOC from the KHADC to conduct drilling at Porkut-Nongjri.