SHILLONG: Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma is expected to convene a meeting to finalise the proposed amendment of the Meghalaya Catchment Areas Act, 1990.
“He (Dr Sangma) would convene the meeting to finalise the matter very soon,” Forest and Environment Minister Prestone Tynsong informed here on Saturday, adding that the meeting would be held after the Chief Minister returns from Delhi.
While admitting that there has been undue delay on the amendment of the Catchment Areas Act, Tynsong said that the Government cannot afford any further delay in the wake of the rapid depletion of catchments areas in various parts of the State.
“Unwanted activities along the catchment areas would be checked once the proposed amendment comes into force,” Tynsong said.
The proposed amendment has been lying in cold storage for more than a year now.
According to a senior official, the Planning Department, which is examining the proposed amendment, has been sitting on the file for over eight months now.
“The Forest and Environment Department is in a dilemma since it wanted the proposed amendment to get the approval of the House at the earliest to enable the department to exercise better control over the catchment areas,” the senior official said on condition of anonymity, while adding that it is mandatory that the proposed amendment has to be examined by the concerned departments before it is tabled before the Cabinet.
Informing that the Law department did not take so much time to examine the proposed amendment, the official said that the process suffered delay after the matter reached the Planning department.