MAWKYRWAT: The KSU has questioned the government on its decision to reject the proposal made by the Department of Atomic Energy for exploration drilling of uranium at Balpakram National Park in South Garo Hills district even as it allowed open cast mining of uranium at Mawthabah in South West Khasi Hills district.
KSU said the government had rejected the proposal on the basis that the Balpakram National Park was home to rare and endangered species such as Slow loris, Hoolock gibbons and elephants.
In this context, even though they were content with the Standing Committee’s decision to reject the proposal at the meeting held in May 2010 regarding Balpakram, the students’ body questioned the government whether the animals at Balpakram National Park were more valuable than the lives of the thousands of people of West and South West Khasi Hills districts.
The KSU along with NGOs in the state is spearheading the movement against the open-cast uranium mining in the districts citing health and environmental hazards.
“Thousands of people in West and South West Khasi Hills District will be affected by radiation. We want to know whether the animals are more valuable than the thousands of people in these districts,” KSU president Forwardman Nongrem said.
Nongrem said the union demanded that the state government and the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) should put pressure on the Ministry of Environment and Forests, government of India to revoke its earlier decision to give permission to the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) for open cast mining of uranium in Mawthabah area.
“The union welcomes the decision of the state government in August 2016 to revoke its earlier decision of granting permission to the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) to conduct pre-mining activities across 422 hectares of land in the Mawthabah area. We also welcome the initiative of the KHADC to adopt a resolution in the house against the grant of NOC for uranium mining. However, we want the KHADC and the state government to take the matter together so that the chapter of uranium mining in the state can be closed forever,” Nongrem added.
