SHILLONG: Forest and Environment Minister Prestone Tynsong on Wednesday admitted that there was delay on the part of the State Government to amend the all-important Meghalaya Catchment Areas Act, 1990, and asserted that he would meet Chief Minister Mukul Sangma shortly to deliberate on the same.
“I would soon meet the chief minister to deliberate on the matter. I am hopeful that the chief minister would give some kind of direction in order to speed up the proposed amendment of this very important Act,” Tynsong said.
Admitting to the delay, Tynsong said the Government cannot afford any further laxity in the wake of rapid depletion of catchments areas in various parts of the State.
“Unwanted activities along the catchment areas would be checked once the proposed amendment comes into force,” Tynsong said.
The proposed amendment has been lying in cold storage for more than three years now.
According to a senior official, the Planning Department, which is examining the proposed amendment, has been sitting on the file for more than three years now.
“The Forest and Environment Department is in a dilemma since it wanted the proposed amendment to get the approval of the House at the earliest to enable the department to exercise better control over the catchment areas,” the senior official said on condition of anonymity, while adding that it is mandatory that the proposed amendment has to be examined by the concerned departments before it is tabled before the Cabinet.
Informing that the Law department did not take so much time to examine the proposed amendment, the official said that the process suffered delay after the matter reached the Planning department.
