Coal mining to take more time

SHILLONG: After the July 3 order of the Supreme Court, efforts are on by the state government to resume coal mining in Meghalaya.
An official source said on Monday that consultations are on with various expert bodies to find a suitable method of coal mining in the state.
After the government finalises the best method, the coal mine owners will be asked to submit the mining plans to the state government which in-turn will forward the same to the Centre for clearance.The mine owners will have to get all required clearances from the Centre before starting mining. Sources said clearances will have to come from ministries of forest and environments, mines, coal and labour. The court had allowed scientific coal mining in the state and not rat-hole coal mining.
The auction of already extracted coal will be carried out by Coal India Limited after the state government formulates a policy in this regard.The NGT committee had given time ill August for the government to come up with the policy on how to transport and auction coal.