SHILLONG, Feb 9: Congress leader, Mukul Sangma on Tuesday accused the state government of furnishing wrong information to the Ministry of Coal that made it deny any occurrence of illegal mining in the state.
Sangma told The Shillong Times that whenever such questions are raised, an official mechanism provides the information to the Ministry concerned and since the alleged illegalities are happening within the state, it is clear wrong information was provided to the Centre.
“Wrong information was furnished to the Ministry of Coal and wrong reply was provided on the floor of the Parliament and before the nation,” Sangma said.
“In this instant case, we will lodge a strong protest for providing wrong information before the Parliament. We will have to find out whether any inputs on coal mining were sought from the state,” he said.
The former chief minister said if indeed the state government had shared some inputs without conducting any verification, it amounts to intentional and a pre-determined motive to hide facts.
“It is a part of a well-scripted modus operandi to facilitate illegalities,” he alleged.
He slammed the government for the sudden transfer of the East Jaintia Hills Superintendent of Police who was investigating the recent deaths of six labourers in a coal pit in the district. Sangma said the officer was transferred apparently to hide something.
“To hide a sin, they committed another sin by transferring the officer,” he said, adding, “Was it because he was acting as per the law? They must explain the reasons behind his transfer.”
The Centre’s denial on the matter has come as a major relief for the National People’s Party (NPP) which heads the state’s ruling coalition.
NPP state president and Rajya Sabha member, WR Kharlukhi asserted the state government never allowed any illegal mining although wild allegations were made by many from time to time. He asked as to how some political parties could demand the resignation of the Home Minister over the deaths of the six labourers.
“There are laws all over India against crimes but they are still committed. If they demand the removal of the Home Minister, then we will require a new Home Minister every single day,” Kharlukhi said.
The BJP has vowed to substantiate its charges with evidence. Requesting anonymity, a top state BJP leader said the denial of illegal mining by Coal Minister, Prahlad Joshi must have been a diplomatic statement based on the report of the state government.
The BJP leader said the state government must have given a report to the Centre that no illegal coal mining is taking place.
“We are investigating the matter. Along National Highway 62, many trucks can be found carrying coal, covered with tarpaulin. They don’t have any challan,” the BJP leader claimed.
He added: “We have evidence and we will come out with it. We are monitoring everything.”
Replying to a question of BJP Rajya Sabha member Rakesh Sinha in the Parliament on Monday, the Coal Minister had said the Meghalaya government has taken recourse of the MMDR Act of 2019 to stop illegal coal mining. He did not reply to the pointed question of Sinha if illegal coal mining was continuing in Meghalaya and resultant loss of revenue despite the ban by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
The NGT had imposed the ban on rat-hole coal mining in Meghalaya in 2014. Later, the state government had said the already extracted coal, lying around various mining sites, was required to be transported to prevent the local environment from being polluted.