NGT asks govt to shell out Rs 100 cr

NEW DELHI/ SHILLONG: The National Green Tribunal on Friday ordered the Meghalaya government to deposit a whopping Rs 100 crore with the Central Pollution Control Board to utilise it for restoration of the environment after the damage caused to it due to illegal coal mining in the hill state.
In a hearing, the NGT ordered the state government to deposit Rs 100 crore to make up for the huge losses to the environment of the state due to unabated illegal coal mining despite the ban.
Supreme Court lawyer and counsel for the state government, Ranjan Mukherjee, advocated a review committee to determine the extent of damage and to recommend suitable deterrent measures.
The tribunal said that the state can assess the damage and recover the amount from the persons engaged in illegal mining. Enough damage has been done to the environment due to rampant illegal coal mining, it pointed out during the hearing on the All Dimasa Students’ Union’s petition.
Mukherjee told The Shillong Times that the NGT ordered the Meghalaya government to deposit Rs 100 crore with the Central Pollution Control Board to utilise it for restoration of environment.
He said that the direction came from the NGT following the submission of a 50-page report of the judicial committee headed by Justice BP Katoki which stated that rampant illegal mining is going on in Meghalaya despite the order of ban.
“The money will have to be deposited with the Central Pollution Control Board for restoration of environment,” he said while maintaining that the amount is neither a fine nor damages.
Stating that an amount of Rs 425 crore is under the Meghalaya Environment Protection Restoration Fund, he said that if he is asked for an opinion, he would say that the amount of Rs 100 crore should not be taken out from it.