SHILLONG: The Meghalaya Government is likely to find itself in hot waters for the loss of lives of 15 coal labourers in a mine in South Garo Hills in July, 2012, since the National Disaster Response Team still maintains that there were no deaths in the mine.
The matter had come up for hearing on August 1 when the National Green Tribunal met in Shillong.
According to Supreme Court lawyer Ranjan Mukherjee, who was in Shillong in relation to the case on behalf of the State Government, the preliminary and the final reports of the National Disaster Response Team had maintained that there were no deaths in the mine.
Mukherjee said that during the hearing on August 1, the concerned parties, both the Government and the private, had been asked to present the list of witnesses who will be summoned during the next hearing on October 7.
There are as many as eight Government witnesses who are likely to be examined in the next hearing.
However, the stand of the National Disaster Response Team that no deaths occurred in the mine is likely to complicate the case as the NGT does not admit the views of the NDRT.