Transportation of extracted coal stops
SHILLONG: Transportation of extracted coal came to a halt on Sunday night as per the NGT order leaving as many as 30 lakh metric tonnes of coal worth Rs.1400 crore to be auctioned off by the State government.
After the ban on rat hole mining on April 17, 2014, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) allowed payment of royalty and subsequent transportation of already extracted coal from November, 2014.
The State government has collected around Rs.700 crore from November, 2014 till April this year in terms of royalty and Meghalaya Environmental Restoration Fund for the transportation of extracted coal.
Government counsel in Delhi, Ranjan Mukherjee, said over phone on Sunday that as per the earlier order, the NGT had allowed payment of royalty till April 15 and the transportation of extracted coal till May 15 after which the State government has been entrusted with the task to sell or auction the remaining coal.
Mukherjee said that from Sunday midnight, no transportation of extracted coal will be allowed as this will be the property of the government. “Unless the coal mine owners get some relief from the Supreme Court, the extracted 30 lakh metric tonnes of coal will be auctioned off by the government,” Mukherjee said.
He said that the government will have to deploy adequate security forces to prevent the transportation of extracted coal in the State.
According to Mukherjee as far as the illegal extraction of fresh coal is concerned, action is being taken by the government, and now the government has to protect 30 lakh metric tonnes of coal which is its property.