JOWAI: Hundreds of overloaded coal trucks are plying illegally in Jaintia Hills without transits challan.
The trucks owners and miners are transporting coal from Kongong – a famous coal dumping area in East Jaintia Hills – to Beltola and many of them to cement plants in Lumshnong area.
A vast majority of the trucks carry loads beyond 22 metric tonnes.
Sources have stated that one Forecast Phawa of Cham Cham village has been regularly transporting coal in overloaded trucks fully covered with tarpaulin. On Wednesday alone he transported 15 overloaded coal trucks from Takhniang under Tuberkmai Shnong village on Wednesday.
Phawa is said to be a close friend of Khliehriat legislator Justine Dkhar and sources claimed the two friends are always seen together in every public function in East Jaintia Hills – be if a fete or the Chad Sukra.
With the NGT setting a deadline of May 15 for transportation of already extracted coal, the miners are making last ditch efforts to dispose of the remaining coal without challans and on overloaded trucks to lessen time.
Incidentally, West Jaintia Hills Police are doing their bid to enforce the NGT order with the district police chief himself seizing three trucks for illegally transporting coal without documents and beyond the restricted load capacity.
However, East Jaintia Hills Police are not showing any effort to curb illegal mining activities despite being in the knowhow of things.
Ri-Bhoi Police has also failed to detect such illegal activities.
Surprisingly, the truck drivers have devised a cunning ploy to avoid being penalized for overloading.
Just before reaching the Umling weighbridge in Ri-Bhoi, the truckers hire three to four pickup vehicles to transfer the overloaded coal for a short distance after which the trucks cross the weighbridge and then the coal is reloaded onto the trucks.
