SHILLONG: MIRECO, a Korean Government Agency has expressed keen interest to use its technology in Meghalaya to provide Mines Reclamation Solutions to the Hill State where the environment has been on the receiving end due to unscientific coal mining.
The Korean Government Agency held consultations with Meghalaya State Planning Board on Tuesday wherein it was agreed that a small pilot project will be conducted to address the acidity levels in rivulets and streams in mining areas.
The agreement was reached at after detailed discussions. The Korean Government Agency has an experience rehabilitating 1,654, mine sites (big and small scale) globally.
The Agency would start the project with some selected rivers and streams in Jaintia Hills where the water bodies have turned acidic due to unscientific coal mining.
The State Planning Board also agreed to provide necessary data to facilitate MIRECO in submission of their proposal to the State Government.
The South Koreans informed that it would take approximately a year to complete a small demonstration project to review the success of reduction in PH level in water bodies.
Meanwhile, given the customary land holding system prevalent in Meghalaya, the meeting of the State Planning Board resolved to convene a meeting of representatives of the ADCs, various associations representing the mining activity including land owners associations in the State on October 17 to discuss the technology and solutions offered by the South Korean Agency.