By H.H.Mohrmen
April 4, 2014 will be a red letter day in the history of environment protection and sustainable development in the state of Meghalaya. It was an important day because the government of Meghalaya was made to act on the unregulated and illegal mining in the state of Meghalaya. The National Green Tribunal compelled the government to start the process of controlling and monitoring mining in Meghalaya. The NGT in its order has indirectly insisted on the state government to get its act together and start the process of regulating mining in the state, an act which the government has been avoiding for so long.
This column has maintained that Meghalaya is the only place in the world where anybody can start any kind of mining activity without any kind of permission whatsoever from any government authority. On the pretext of owning the land by virtue of the Sixth Schedule, land owners can start mining activity anywhere in the state and in many cases even without permission from the headman. Mining is free for all business and the unregulated mining has caused environmental hazards in the mining areas of the state. The Mines and Minerals Policy 2012 which is supposed to be implemented since November 4, 2013, is kept in abeyance for reasons best known to the MUA government. It may also be mentioned that the policy was the outcome of the Supreme Court directive which ordered the government to prepare a mineral and mining policy of its own, yet the government is making use of every available excuse to avoid implementing the same.
The media reported that the state government’s counsel who appeared on its behalf at the recent hearing, informed the NGT that the government has started implementing the policy, but if that is so then does it even have the statistics of the numbers of coal and limestone mines in the state? How can we expect the state to monitor and control mining when the government does not even know how many mines there are in the state.
Hence the NGT direction to the Central Pollution Control Board to inspect the mines, along with the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board and representatives of the state government and to submit a comprehensive report with regards to mining activities in various places of Meghalaya, particularly in relation to pollution and danger to human life, is a welcome move even though it is too late in some cases. For the many rivers in Jaintia hills like Kupli, Myntdu, Lukha and the tributaries of these major rivers and for aquatic life that used to live in these rivers, the directive comes too late in the day because all these rivers are now dead.
Efforts to control and monitor mining in the state is also a little too late for the people who live downstream of these rivers too because they have already lost their livelihoods for no fault of theirs. People who live downstream used to earn their livelihood from fishing; but now that has been snatched away from them. This is the price we have to pay for electing leaders who are only concerned about the mining lobby and not the poor people.
The Tribunal also asked the Secretary, Mining and Geology Department, Government of Meghalaya to file a personal affidavit giving a complete picture of the environment protection and anti-pollution devices and the measures for protecting and controlling pollution that are being undertaken. But the big question is does the Government have any mechanism in place to protect the environment and control pollution caused by mining?
During the hearing it was reported that the Counsel for the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) told the tribunal that coal in Meghalaya contains very high sulphur and when mined, effluents from the mines percolate into the ground water and convert the water into sulphuric acid. This effluent causes very serious environmental hazards particularly to ground water. The Tribunal was informed that though the MoEF had written to the State Pollution Control Board on the matter yet no steps have been taken by the concerned authority to stop and control pollution from mining. These are facts known to the Government especially to the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board, but why is the government still sitting on this ticking time bomb?
The counsel for MoEF also pointed out that the entire mining activity in the state is being carried on without obtaining consent from the State Pollution Board to establish and/or consent to operate. Hence the member secretary of the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board was asked to file an affidavit stating the effect of what has been pointed out by the counsel for MoEF. The NGT directive compelled the MSPCB to act on its order dated 5 August 2013. The MPSCB in pursuance of the order issued a public notice dated April 7, 2014 that all miners should obtain prior Environmental Clearance (EC) from State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority, Meghalaya and license from the competent authority. This again is a step in the right direction, but the notification which was published in the print media left many questions unanswered. It is an open secret that all mining activities carried out by private individual does have Environment Clearance from the Environment Impact Assessment Authority, so the fundamental question is whether the government is going to close all mines in the state which for all intents and purposes are illegally run because they do not possess the required document?
If the government is serious in complying with the directive of the NGT, then it should stop all mining activities where owners do not have Environment Clearance. The government should allow mining to continue if and only when the owner is in possession of the EC. The other pertinent question is what about abandoned mines? There are hundreds of abandoned mines all across the mining areas and because there were and are no laws and regulation to monitor or control mining in the state, coal mine owners have abandoned exhausted mines without proper closure. Hence every monsoon these abandoned mines discharge acid mine drainage to the nearest streams thereby polluting the river downstream.
But the most important question remains unanswered. How is government going to reclaim the polluted rivers? Does the government have any plans or mechanism to reclaim the dead rivers of Jaintia hills? The government, the district councils and the coal and lime stone mine owners should pay the cost of reclaiming these rivers.
The Honourable Tribunal made these observations and directives while deliberating on the July 6, 2012 incident in South Garo Hills where 15 miners were reportedly trapped inside a mine. It also made a reference to an incident which occurred in the Briwar region of East Jaintia Hills. But thereafter there were many more reports of mine accidents in the State and the mine owners were allowed to go scot free because the Meghalaya Mines and Mineral Policy is not operationalised as yet.
It was also reported in the media that the Member Secretary, in consultation with the scientists in MoEF, shall state what measures are required to be taken while giving permission to carry out mining activity to ensure prevention of damage to the environment, particularly underground water. This is what the people of Meghalaya have been waiting for so long and the people and all the living beings in the state are anxiously waiting for June 2, next when the Tribunal will give further directions on the matter.
The state government, has for so long succumbed to the powerful mining lobby and avoided doing anything that has to do with regulating mining in the state, despite the massive damage to the environment particularly water bodies and the livelihoods of the people. The NGT intervention is a blessing for the people and it is also a lesson on sustainable development for the state of Meghalaya.