SHILLONG: The HNLC has threatened a fresh 24-hour bandh on June 10 from 6 pm to the next day 6 pm if the National Green Tribunal( NGT) does not lift the ban on rat hole mining during its hearing on June 9 in Shillong.
Earlier, the HNLC had announced a bandh on June 3, but it was called off.
“This time the HNLC has decided to call off the shutdown on June 3 keeping in mind the interests of our poor people and daily wage labourers”, the HNLC publicity secretary, Saiñkupar Nongtraw said in a statement issued to the media on Sunday.
Nongtraw said that the postponement of NGT’s hearing date from June 2 to June 9 is nothing but a delay tactic.
“In 1996 the Supreme Court of India imposed a ban on timber trade and thousands of families were affected,” the HNLC leader said, adding that the timbers that were already felled before ban in the entire region were worth crores of rupees. The Supreme Court constituted high power committee (HPC) and it had instructed the people to submit stock inventory report to respective district councils and forest department so as to enable the supply of the felled timber. This never happened and due to the delay tactics of the HPC all the timbers in the forests were totally damaged causing a huge loss,” HNLC leader said.
According to HNLC, those days most of the people had the alternative to shift to coal mining, but this time after the ban on coal mining “our people have been rendered jobless creating huge gap of unemployment”..
The HNLC said that the same thing may happen to coal which has already been extracted resulting in loss to the people .
“The salaried people will not be affected by the ban but only the poor people . Many of the make shift food stalls on the highways have closed down and thousands of truck drivers have been rendered jobless waiting in anticipation for the verdict of the NGT on June 9”, HNLC said.
The militant outfit also criticized the State Government for failing miserably to protect the interests of the entire Hynñiewtrep.
The NGT must also immediately ban and shutdown all cement plants located in Jaintia Hills as well as Khasi Hills and if the cement companies are allowed to carry operations then it would clearly indicate that there is a nexus between the companies, with the MOEF(Ministry of Environment and Forest) and NGT”, HNLC said.
According to HNLC, the NGT must also chalk out its strategies to provide alternate means of employment to all the people effected by the ban.
“Nonetheless coal mining contributes to the national economy and GDP and creates considerable employment and if NGT is not able to provide employment, then the NGT should make way to lift the ban on June 9. If the NGT fails in doing so, the HNLC would impose a 24 hour total shutdown on June 9 in the entire Khasi and Jaintia Hills with the support of all the people affected by the ban”, HNLC asserted.