SHILLONG: A top official of the Geological Survey of India has said mining in Meghalaya should be done properly and in a way that it improves the economy of the state.
Mulkh Raj Jarngal, GSI additional director general in the North East, was speaking on rat-hole mining at a press conference on Wednesday.
Illegal mining in Meghalaya continues unabated even after a ban imposed by the National Green Tribunal in 2014 affecting the environment to a great extent.
Jarngal said GSI has estimated a reserve of 1,642.64 million tonnes of coal in Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.
“In Garo Hills region, there are around 576.48 million tonnes of coal reserves where the GSI has conducted drilling,” he added.
The Survey has also found other mineral reserves in different parts of the state.
In Niangbrakgithim area near Mansang in West Khasi Hills and East Garo Hills, GSI has found presence of about 38,000 tonnes of sillimanite within an area of about 0.66 sq km.
According to Jarngal, mineral resources worth over Rs 10 lakh crore have been identified in the northeastern region.
Altogether, 5.88 million tonnes of bauxite have been estimated in West Khasi Hills and GSI is awaiting “permission from the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council” to take necessary action.
This year, GSI had 18 regular field projects in Meghalaya and in the financial year 2019-20, they will have eight such projects. Jarngal informed that cities like Shillong, Guwahati, Itanagar and Kohima have been covered under seismic micro-zonation.
“When earth cutting takes place for various developmental projects, it is bound to destabilise the slops and as a result, landslides have taken place in Meghalaya and in other states of the region,” he said.
GSI has classified different cities of the region into different zones as per susceptibility to earthquake and the data is shared with the respective state governments. Jarngal said Nagaland is more susceptible to earthquake than Shillong since rocks here are more stable.
In addition, GSI is also putting up GIS stations to monitor plate movements.
