SHILLONG, March 10: In what can be termed as a major relief for the coal miners of the state, resumption of the mining activities in the state is expected sooner than not.
The state government has now cleared the Standard Operating Procedure to prescribe the procedure for obtaining prospecting license and mining lease.
Replying to the discussion on Governor’s address, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said on Wednesday that this has never happened while adding that earlier the mining leases and prospecting mine plans were given by the central government.
“For the first time, the Union government has allowed Meghalaya government and DMR to do the prospecting mining and it can be done by local agencies,” the CM said while informing that the for the first time, provisions of chapter 5 of Mineral Concession Rules are being invoked under which there are provisions for the private mines to be leased out through the SOP which has been finalised.
“It means that the Centre has recognised that the land and the mineral belong to the people,” he said.
Earlier, the chief minister had asked people to change their negative perception about anything related to coal.
He claimed the transportation of coal (since the National Green Tribunal’s April 2014 ban on rat-hole mining) has taken place legally and with documentation.
Sangma said that the auctioning of 3 lakh metric tonnes of coal had generated Rs 70 crore as revenue for the state and that about 250 cases of illegal coal mining have been registered by his government.
Denying having promised to lift the ban on coal mining within 180 days of assuming office, the Chief Minister said his government filed a case in the Supreme Court, which lifted the ban on coal mining with guidelines laid for scientific mining.
He had come under sharp attack over the issue of illegal coal mining.
On the proposal to set up integrated check gates, the Chief Minister said such gates have been approved at 18 locations, where a centralised system and CCTV cameras would capture the registration number of trucks and even the weight they carry.
“We will put up these integrated check gates within six months,” he said.
Sangma also informed the House that Coal India Limited’s auction of 54 MT of coal in East Jaintia Hills was in an advanced stage and the government has gone ahead with bidding.
He also stated that the government has started utilising the Meghalaya Environment Protection and Restoration Fund worth Rs. 450-crore and many pilot projects for rejuvenation and protection of water bodies are being taken up.
The government plans to implement all the projects under the fund within two years, he said.