CM against sharing info with NGT committee
SHILLONG: The state government is thinking how to move forward on the matter of coal mining after the resignation of retired justice BP Katakey from the post of the chairman of the NGT committee, while social activist Agnes Kharshiing wants a CBI inquiry into the claim of the government about 32 lakh metric tonnes of coal awaiting transportation.
Katakey, who was appointed chairman of the NGT committee with the support of the Supreme Court, had resigned on Monday citing personal reasons while sources confirmed that non-cooperation from the state government was one of the reasons for his resignation.
The NGT panel wanted the details of the 32 lakh metric tonnes of coal which, however, was not provided by the government.
On his sudden resignation, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said, “The committee had to postpone the meeting three times and finally when they met after hearing took place, I don’t know why Mr Katakey had to resign and now it again creates a situation where we have to figure out how to move forward and now we are going to discuss with our legal team and try to figure out”.
He said, “The point being after all the work has been done from the government side it is an unnecessary delay that is taking place and in the process, the people are suffering and that is where my concern mainly is”.
Stating that the government will try to ensure that things move fast, Sangma said, “But sadly as I said the committee had to postpone their meeting three times which really led to more delays in the whole process”.
Enquired about the reports which suggest that the reason behind his resignation was also due to the delay in getting response from the state government officials to his queries, the chief minister said, “I think all the queries have been replied to and I think that certain areas of concerns were there those have already been addressed in the beginning itself and that is how we arrive at this kind of situation and this situation meaning Supreme Court has asked us to complete transportation of 32 lakh metric tonnes along with Coal India”.
Stating that the state government went ahead with Coal India to finalise the procedure, the chief minister said,” After the Supreme Court has given the order, I don’t see any reason why anybody else should again come up and try to ask a number of questions about the details of the aspects which have already been addressed in the past in the Supreme Court”.
Claiming that that the Supreme Court had asked the state government to complete the transportation and auctioning of coal along with Coal India, the chief minister said, “I think it will be unfair to say that those were not addressed but we felt that it is an issue which is also going to affect the people at large and we are of the opinion that once the Supreme Court has given its order we must comply with the order”.
On the other hand, the CSWO president questioned the state government’s hesitance in providing details about the 32 lakh metric tonnes of coal.
She said that when the government has justified its stand before the Supreme Court, then they should not be hesitant in sharing all the details before the NGT committee.
Suspecting that the state government may have misled the Supreme Court about the coal stock in the state, she added that a CBI inquiry should be constituted to find out the actual details of the matter.