SHILLONG: The Synjuk Ki Rangbah Shnong (SKR), a conglomeration of headmen from East Jaintia Hills, has expressed dissatisfaction over its meeting with Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on the opposition to coal trucks entering the state from Assam. The SKR said that they discussed about the opposition in East Jaintia Hills district to trucks entering the district to supply coal to the cement plants in view of COVID-19 and rising cases in Assam. The headmen are having a tough time in making the people understand that they met the chief minister to get a clarity on the government’s stand.
The chief minister informed that the transportation was at the direction from the Centre and the state government cannot do much, but assured it would see that the movement of trucks is regulated. To a question on the opposition to coal trucks, the SKR said the trucks carrying essential commodities were also coming, but the pressure at the check gates is more with the number of trucks increasing. Meanwhile, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister, Kyrmen Shylla, who helped them meet the chief minister, said that the meeting was fruitful as dialogue is the only way out.
He said that the chief minister has informed that transportation should be allowed as per the norms and protocols in view of COVID-19 and the question to stop them does not arise. It may be mentioned that certain organisations had protested the entry of coal trucks into the state to supply coal to the cement factories. As part of the relaxation the state government had given the go- ahead for the cement plants to start functioning and with the NGT ban on coal in the state, it is being transported from Assam. Earlier, hundreds of people in coal-rich areas of East Jaintia Hills district had staged a protest by defying the nationwide lockdown to oppose the government’s decision to allow cement plants to bring coal from outside.