SHILLONG: Meghalaya and South Korea are now keen to extend mutual in the field of tackling environmental problems caused by mining while they are toying with the idea of generating energy from waste.
Meghalaya government on Saturday held a bi-lateral talks with South Korea Ambassador to India Shin Bong-kil and is looking towards tying up with a Korean company Chamhana Limited to deal with the environmental issues created by unscientific mining in the state.
Addressing a press conference here after the meeting, South Korea Ambassador to India Shin Bong-kil informed that the South Korea could help Meghalaya in addressing its environmental problems caused due to mining.
During the meeting, the South Korean Ambassador, Shin Bong-kil and Meghalaya Government also discussed the issue of land reclamation post-mining and the ways and means to purify water.
During the meeting, a South Korean company Chamhana which has expertise on solid waste management also made a presentation
Chamhana a is well-known company in South Korea and they have a technology for converting waste to fuel without making causing any damage to environmental.
Shin Bong-kil also informed Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma would visit South Korea from November 23-27 and during his tour, he would meet the authorities and companies in South Korea to discuss about the technologies which can be applied in Meghalaya to address the environmental challenges.
“I have great expectation of CM’s visit and after he comes back, I hope we and Meghalaya would cooperate with each other for implementing these ideas here,” he said.
Lamenting that the Meghalaya is quite remote and it will not be easy for them to recommend the South Korean businessmen to come here for business purposes, he however added that Meghalaya has huge potential in tourism sector.
Meanwhile, Home Minister James Sangma who attended the talks said that many issues regarding waste management were discussed and presentation were made to convert waste into fuel, energy bricks and use that as a source of fuel.
Stating that martin dumping ground is an eyesore he hoped that it will probably provide some solution to it. Informing that discussions were also held on land reclamation post-mining, the Home Minister said that Korea had also led the way in terms of land reclamation in their own country and there was a lot to learn and discuss.
He further said that he believed that this was a start and hoped that such partnership can go a long way in helping Meghalaya.