Reports that trucks and other heavy vehicles in Jaintia Hills are plying without registration numbers suggest that a culture of lawlessness thrives in this state. It is also visible to all that despite the NGT ban, coal laden trucks ply unabated from the coal mining areas of Meghalaya carrying coal to other states. These trucks openly violate the 9-tonne carrying capacity stipulated by the Supreme Court. The problem with court orders whether they are of the NGT, the High Courts or Supreme Court is that they can only be implemented by the law enforcers in the respective states. Knowing how venal many law enforcers are it is no wonder that laws are flouted with impunity by paying off the men in uniform.
In 1996 when the Supreme Court placed a ten-year moratorium on timer felling, the forests of Meghalaya got a reprieve. Some forest cover was regenerated but timber was still felled in the sly by a mercenary timber mafia. Since 94% of forest land in Meghalaya was outside the purview of the Forest Department and were under the custodianship of the Autonomous District Councils, the Councils were told to prepare a forest management plan and submit them to the State Forest Department which was supposed to vet the plan and accord permission after applying stringent rules. But even then there was large scale collusion between the State Forest Department and the Councils to sanction timber ploughing even in areas that had scanty forests. By 2006 when the moratorium was lifted, timber was once again felled relentlessly. Today, trucks are seen transporting logs that are yet to reach maturity. All claims of Meghalaya having increased its forest cover must be taken with a pinch of salt. This is a rogue state that can concoct false data when it chooses to and there is no one to counter those claims. An Indian Forest Service Officer who served Meghalaya for a while and was appalled by these false claims had approached the Supreme Court seeking an enquire into these nefarious claims. The report has not been made public. This is the reality obtaining in a state which cannot claim to have authentic data on anything and where the rule of law operates in the breach. No wonder there is a governance vacuum in Meghalaya. How long can this carry on and at what cost?