Tribunal pulls up MoEF

NEWDELHI: The National Green Tribunal on Thursday pulled up the Ministry of Environment and Forest, asking why they were not preparing the report on the mining plan in Meghalaya and instead seeking opinion of an expert body.
“Is this a joke? You (MoEF) are the regulatory authority and you do nothing. You just seek reports from experts. We do not understand why you do not do this yourself. Do not use our orders for escaping from responsibility,” a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said.
“Why cannot you do it yourself? For every small thing you need a consultant,” the bench said and directed the ministry to inform it about the mining policy and plan.
The bench observed this after the counsel appearing for MoEF said the ministry has sought the opinion of an expert body which carries out research and development programme in environmental science  and technology.
The tribunal directed the MoEF, Ministry of Coal and the Meghalaya government to hold a meeting to finalise the mining plan and submit a report before it.
It observed that entire mining projects in Meghalaya were at a “stand still”, which have serious consequences on the environment as well as economy of the state. (PTI)