NGT extends royalty payment time

SHILLONG: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has extended the period for payment of royalty on extracted coal till May 30.
The principal bench of the tribunal while granting the extension on Thursday said that the transportation of coal would be allowed till June 30.
Informing this here, the Meghalaya Commercial Truck Owners and Operators Association president Augustine Shanpru said that the application filed by Commercial Truck Owners and Operators Association (MCTOOA) was taken up by the principal bench for hearing on Thursday.
The state government counsel and Supreme Court lawyer Ranjan Mukerjee said over phone from Delhi that the order was following the pending petitions by various parties on the need to extend time for payment of royalty and transportation of already extracted coal.
Hearing of all other applications, however, will now be held on July 8 after the summer vacation.
Earlier, Commercial Truck Owners and Operators Association (MCTOOA) had filed a petition against payment towards Meghalaya Environment Protection Fund saying the rates were too high
The petition was filed after the NGT directed all the coal  miners to pay an additional amount of Rs 485 per metric ton (MT) of coal besides the royalty that was paid while transporting the extracted coal from the state.