SC to hear coal issue tomorrow

SHILLONG: The Meghalaya State Co-ordination Committee of Coal Owners, Miners and Dealer’s Forum filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court assailing the August 31 order passed by the National Green Tribunal that did not give relief to the miners.
The petition has been registered as a civil appeal and listed for hearing on Friday.
In a statement issued here on Wednesday, the forum said it had consistently pleaded before the NGT for the last four years or more that coal mining cannot be construed as illegal, in as much as the state and the Centre had accorded the acknowledgment of the traditional method of coal mining in Meghalaya.
Besides, the coal miners in the state are also paying royalties and taxes.
The NGT, instead of accommodating the proposals of mining plans submitted by the state government and supported by the forum to lift the ban on coal mining, had instead disposed of the matter making the ban infinite, the forum said.
It reiterated that indigenous people of the state are geared up to adapt themselves to the new scientific and safe mining methods, which would balance the protection of their livelihood and environment.