SHILLONG: A day after Supreme Court lifted the ban on coal mining in Meghalaya with certain riders, Opposition leader in Meghalaya, Mukul Sangma has questioned as to why the State Government and the Union Government took U-turn afterwards before the Supreme Court that all the relevant sections of the MMDR Act has to apply.
After five years of legal wrangling, the Supreme Court on Wednesday lifted the National Green Tribunal’s ban on coal mining in Meghalaya but made it clear that the mining should be done as per the MMDR Act 1957 and other related rules concerning safety of the workers
“What will be the consequences keeping in mind the complexities and lengthy procedures that the mine owners- particularly the small mine owners have to go through,” Mukul Sangma said while fearing that the fallout of this will be now that the middle men and ‘benami’ businessmen will prosper at the cost of local people.
He said that the government didn’t do it’s homework except to mislead the Supreme Court by claiming that more than 32 lakh metric tons of extracted coal were still lying in the mining areas in four districts which never existed with a clear intent to thrive on by facilitating illegal coal mining.
“Everyone interested to protect the State’s interests can find out what’s happening in the coal mine areas and along the National Highways- don’t go by what I say,” he said.
Earlier, he stated that their proposal submitted to the Union Government and subsequent resolution adopted in the Meghalaya Legislative assembly in 2015 urging the government of India to ensure that the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973 and the MMDR Act, 1957 shall not apply in Meghalaya was agreed upon by the Ministry of Coal.
This was also the culmination of long-drawn consultations at the level of the committee led by the Cabinet Secretary, (the committee was constituted by the then PM Dry Manmohan Singh) based on his proposal as the Chief Minister of the state in 2014.
Sangma stated that the official view of Ministry of Coal was conveyed in 2015 and this stand of the Ministry formed part of the official stand of Union Government which was also placed before the Supreme Court in the form of Government affidavit in January 2019.