Thursday, December 5, 2024
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NGT ban and alternatives

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By K L Tariang

Much has been reported about the relentless fight of our political leaders against  the  NGT ban. Being responsible leaders as they are, it is   natural that they would do so, since  according to their assessment,  the ban has  deprived many people  of their livelihoods . They are more boost up by the publicity   that a child was  sold off because of the deprivation resulting from the ban on coal mining.  It  is   unfortunate  and sad  that our  people  have to face such a predicament  but  I wish that  the  Government  assesses the magnitude of the  whole  situation   through   a survey  done independently to get  a factual report  . Not that we doubt the  assessment  of our political leaders   but the facts help to   arrive at an appropriate    approach  to the problem . Meanwhile, the fight has been taken to   parliament  buttressed with the child sale  publicity. With such enthusiasm, there  is every possibility that the powerful  voices  of these leaders  will drown the  voices of the environmentalists  who as of now   are  solely  pinning  their  hope  on  the Tribunal to  continue to champion their cause.
While the environment is getting  a  temporary  reprieve  because of the NGT ban, I for one  feel that the ban  has wide ranging benefits .For instance, many of the public roads which  are in  an extremely deplorable condition because of the constant bombardment  by  coal laden trucks for so long can now be repaired during the respite and all for the benefit of the much harassed commuters. The government  must have  collected  sufficient    revenue   down the years  from coal mining  for spending in   repairing  these roads  and it would  be hard to digest  if  it  admits  that the state is starved of funds now.  Again,  the traffic jams  usually caused by  thousands of coal laden trucks are almost negligible   now much to the relief of commuters. I  hope that  our  political leaders realize that most of these commuters are also their constituents and   need to be given a  special thought too.
The ban has dislodged  many   illegal immigrants from  the  coal mining  areas  for which our  NGOs  who   vociferously   agitate  against   influx,  should be  delighted.  Strangely we are not sure of  their   stand on the ban till now  but their open  support to the ban  would   save us the  ordinary citizens  from having to directly  bear the brunt of their   further  agitations on  the influx  issue. It will be a huge  relief to the many   constituents  of    our political leaders ..
History tells us that one of the means  to  compel the  enemy  to  capitulate is to starve them,  As such, the NGT ban  can   deprive our  pseudo freedom fighters of their  much needed sustenance  which many suspect also comes out of coal mining and its ancillary activities. This  would   bring the much needed  peace which many constituents  in the state have been  longing  for. There are  many  other silver linings which can come out of the NGT ban and these would far exceed  the benefits that  come out of coal mining which   as of now is  for  the few at the expenses of many. Who knows, without us  realizing it,  the   NGT ban  must have stifled  the  much expected political  toppling game  which often   happened  in  the past.
I am not  against mining of coal or any other mineral. As of now I feel that the state is not ready for large scale   mining  as  we do not have the proper  roads and other related infrastructure;  necessary regulations in place; the measures to protect our land and water resources  and most importantly  when  many are   still  insensitive to the rights of  others while    brazenly   harping   on  traditional   rights.  Therefore before striving to get coal mining back on the rails our leaders may perhaps  strive for  these  basic needs first  and in the meantime  also educate  many  coal mine owners  on the need for  social conscientiousness. The welfare of those    who    lost their  well established livelihoods  because of coal  mining and those   elsewhere  who suffer  because of  its  resultant effects also  need to be attended to.  After all , these  people  are also the   constituents of our political leaders .
In the meantime our leaders may perhaps divert their concentration  from the fight and  explore  immediate   alternatives for  our    people   who are genuinely    affected  by the NGT ban. There are  many existing government   programs for providing   relief as well as for promoting sustainable livelihoods.  In fact the Chief Minister who is so enthusiastic about these livelihoods  programme should perhaps explore the  opportunity for  initiating  these programs here  quickly  instead of seemingly waiting for the outcome of the fight. After all it is  in his wisdom that we hope for a balanced growth   with  environment  guardianship .

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