SHILLONG, July 9: In a U-turn, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Friday admitted that the state government had asked the Centre to take a final call on the mining expansion proposal of Star Cement Meghalaya Limited after three failed attempt to hold a public hearing on the matter.
The Chief Minister had earlier denied the state government’s role in the green nod to Star Cement’s mining expansion plan at Brichyrnot village in East Jaintia Hills.
“We were very clear that the public hearing should be allowed to take place as it will give a fair chance to the people to speak for or against the project. We tried multiple times to hold the public hearing but violence marred the hearings,” Sangma said, adding that the state sought the Centre’s intervention since it could not hold the public hearing in a peaceful manner.
“We had no other choice since we will not be able to hold the public hearing,” he said.
Earlier, Jaintia Students’ Union (JSU) general secretary Treiborlang R. Suchen had slammed Sangma for not admitting that Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB) had given its recommendation based on which the Union Ministry of Forests, Environment and Climate Change gave the go ahead to Star Cement.
“During our meeting with the East Jaintia Hills Deputy Commissioner, it was clarified that the MSPCB had given recommendation for granting environmental clearance to Star Cement,” Suchen had claimed while decrying the use of power by the government to suppress the voices of people who would be directly affected due to mining activities.
Suchen had also said that the JSU would register a formal complaint with the Ministry under Para 8, Clause 6 of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), 2006.
