By HH Mohrmen
In reply to this writer’s query about government approach towards protection of the environment during his visit to Jowai recently, Chief Minister Dr. Mukul Sangma said that he is also is very much concerned about the environment. Dr. Sangma’s speech at the Citizen’s Conference on Environmental Governance at Pinewood hotel also gave hope to many hopeless people. But so far the Chief Minister’s statements are mere rhetoric and empty promises at best.
The decision to allow resumption of limestone mining in Nongtalang area generates more questions especially in the light of the Chief Minister’s recent statement. How can the Chief Minister who is also in charge of the mining department allow this blatant violation of national mining and forest laws if he really cares for the environment? And why is the Government turning a Nelson’s eye when there is total disregard to the Hon’ble Supreme Court order? The Government’s present policy or way of doing things with regards to mining of minor minerals and forest protection in the state is self-contradictory if not confusing. How can we expect the Forest Department to do justice to its mandate, when the same Department which is mandated to protect the forest and environment is also given the responsibility to collect royalty from miners who are exploiting minor minerals from the forest? And every year the Government is expecting the Forest Department to enhance it revenue collection from royalty on minor minerals which include boulder, limestone, etc. So it is a case of taking with one hand and taking with the other. At the end of the day, the forest is at stake because the department cannot enhance revenue collection from minor minerals without destroying the forest. Again the Government’s way of categorizing limestone is confusing. It is the only mineral which is categorized both as a minor and a major mineral, and revenue from this same mineral is collected by two departments, the Directorate of Mineral Resources and the Forest Department as mentioned. It is considered a major mineral when it is used in the cement plants and minor minerals when it is supposedly used for local needs like in construction and making lime paste and paint for white wash. Limestone is also considered minor mineral because the scale of mining is small and because it was previously extracted in a traditional manner and on a small scale.
Now the question with regard to limestone mining in Nongtalang is, whether we can still consider limestone mined from this area a minor mineral when the scale of mining is huge and machines of very kind including explosives are being used? Again, even if we take the end use as the benchmark to consider whether to categorize it as major or minor mineral, the problem here arises because limestone from Nongtalang and Shella is being exported to Bangladesh so how can the Government verify its end use? How does the Government know that the limestone exported to Bangladesh is not used for making cement? And for that matter if a commodity is export to another country and not for local use, can we still class it as a minor mineral? These are some issues that need Government’s immediate attention Mr Chief Minister but it looks like the your Government has no other option but to put limestone in one single category and let the DMR collect revenue from this mineral also. It would be sensible if the Government would relieve the Forest department from the task of collecting royalty from other minor minerals and let it concentrate on what it is originally supposed to do and that is to conserve and protect forests.
The other question is why can’t the Government at least control the rapid denudation of forest in the state? The State has three layers of forest departments which are supposed to do the same thing and that is to control if not stop the rapid degradation of forest in the state and yet our forest cover is dwindling so fast. Why have the Forest Departments in the Autonomous District Councils, the State Forest Departments and the Regional office of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in Shillong not able to control this? If the forest and wildlife in the State continues to disappear at the current scale, in no time there will no more forests in the State then when that time comes, what will these Departments do? If the various strata of institutions engaged in Forest governance are to be held responsible for the environment degradation in the state, they would be caught for gross acts of omission. Failure to check rampant mining is equally an act of omission. The sad part is that when Dr. Sangma looks back and realizes that it was during his tenure as the Chief Minister of Meghalaya that forest cover in the state disappeared thick and fast and he had done precious little to stop this plunder of nature.
Dr Sangma has also added more confusion to the already confusing situation when he said on the sideline of the Citizen’s Forum for Environmental Governance that the government is open to suggestions for further amendment to the State Mineral Policy. One thought that the Policy would be operational from November 8, 2013 a year after it was enacted, but that does not seem to be the case now. BM Lanong the then Minister of Mining who chaired the last meeting of stakeholders said that the one year time limit given before the Policy is made operational is to allow the Department to make rules and regulations in line with the Policy. But has the Department been engaged in this exercise?
Mining and environment protection is naturally at odds with each other, hence the need for policies and rules to enable the two to co-exist amicably but in the case of Meghalaya even after four decades of Statehood, we still lack a clear cut policy for environmental governance, forget about the rules. The only unfortunate casualty here are the forests and environment and the longer we take to make those rules and policies, the greater is the threat of more forests disappearing from the hills of Meghalaya. On the pretext of Meghalaya being a Sixth Schedule area, we excuse ourselves from implementing national mining and forest laws in the State, but these same rules and regulations are made applicable in the case of cement plants. The cement plants were required to possess mining leases and environment clearance while local limestone miners, mine at their whims and fancy. Why this double standard? Why can’t the same rule apply for all mining – coal, limestone, stone, sand et al. The Sixth Schedule only guarantees us the ownership of the land, but do we own the birds, the animals, the air and the water? Do we have the right to pollute the air, the water that passes through our land? It is therefore imperative Mr CM that all the mining regulations and forest acts are implemented in letter and spirit in the state of Meghalaya.
The state cannot expect environmental activists to do everything to protect the environment; they also have their own limitations, so the question is why can’t the MoEF Shillong office file contempt to court proceedings against those who are involved in illegal limestone mining in forest area? Or for that matter why can’t the Court take suo moto cognizance against this violation of Supreme Court orders and take the State to task? This article has raised many questions that beg answers from the institutions concerned. These are but few questions that we need to address if we are to save our environment. We can only hope that the dynamic young Chief Minister will practice what he preaches and lead from the front to protect our fragile environment.