SHILLONG: The three-member committee of the National Green Tribunal, headed by retired Justice B P Katakey, has informed that there are altogether 24,392 coal mines in Jaintia Hills.
The information about the huge number of coal mines was revealed by North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC) which made a presentation before the NGT panel on Friday.
Talking to newsmen after the meeting, Katakey said NESAC is mapping the coal mines in East Jaintia Hills and they would submit a final report shortly.
“We have given them inputs relating to the identification of coal dumps and deposits,” he said.
The panel has also identified the drainage and the rivers in East Jaintia Hills which are polluted since the water from the existing coal mines is flowing to the rivers. “Some of the coal mines may be abandoned but they are still releasing the water as pits are not closed yet,” he said.
The panel is again scheduled to have its meeting in Shillong on July 22 and 23.
The sitting on July 22 would depend on the order of the Supreme Court as the constitution of the panel has been challenged before the court.
When asked whether the 24,392 coal mines are still operating, Katakey said it is difficult to comment as it has not been identified as of now whether people are operating these coal mines and the number may include abandoned mines as well.
The NGT panel also said people have reported to the panel that transportation of coal is still taking place despite the Supreme Court ban on May 31.
The recent incident of overturning of one truck carrying illegal coal in Ri Bhoi was also followed up with the police and they have registered a case.
“We will direct them (state government) to submit a report in this regard in the next meeting,” Katakey said.
In addition, the panel has also received four complaints in Guwahati, including one from a transport association which claimed that illegal transportation is still taking place in Meghalaya and accordingly, the committee had directed the BSF to be present during the next meeting.
“The BSF told us that on two dates, trucks numbering 120 and 140 crossed border with all the legal papers but they were not authorized to see the content of the consignment and only the Customs officials are authorized to do that but despite our request, no custom official was present in the meeting,” Katakey added.
Maintaining that there are no reports of fresh mining in the state, he added that the state government claimed that it had put up check gates and they took action after identifying certain illegal transportation of coal.
In the next meeting, the committee is supposed to get a report from the Meghalaya government about the installation of the CCTV cameras.