Coal Ministry official to inspect State coal mines
SHILLONG: A South Korean company has made a proposal to treat the acid mine drainage in coal mining sites in Meghalaya even as Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Coal, R.P. Gupta, will visit the State to inspect the mining sites before finalising the mining plan.
The NGT had earlier asked the State government to submit a report regarding the preservation of environments in and around coal mining sites to treat the acid drainage due to coal mining to maintain the purity of the water bodies free from pollution.
Supreme Court lawyer and counsel for the Meghalaya government, Ranjan Mukherjee, said over phone from Delhi that while there is a plan to treat the acid mine drainage with lime in a traditional way, there is a proposal to engage Mireco, the Korean company, to help improve the water quality in and around the mining sites.
“We will be submitting a report to the NGT on the ways and means to ensure the quality of water in the rivers near the mining sites,” Mukherjee said.
As far as the issue of framing the mining guidelines is concerned, after the draft mining guideline was submitted to the Union Ministry of Coal, it had directed the State government to re-submit the plan keeping in mind various national acts related to coal mining.
Mukherjee said the Joint Secretary will get first-hand knowledge of the traditional coal mining methods in Meghalaya before giving nod to the mining plan.