SHILLONG, Jan 18: The state government on Tuesday said it cannot be blamed blatantly for any instance of illegal coal mining and transportation when an Act is in place and the National Green Tribunal is monitoring the activities.
“Are you trying to say the government is making the criminal activities happen?” Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong asked, adding that an Act is being enforced to check illegal coal mining and transportation.
He was responding to a question on why such instances keep on happening time and again when the state government has been asserting its commitment against the illegal coal trade.
“We have been ensuring that no illegal mining activity takes place after the NGT banned mining of coal in Meghalaya in April 2014,” Tynsong said.
On All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) leader Mukul M. Sangma’s demand for a court-monitored investigation into the illegal coal trade in Meghalaya, the Deputy Chief Minister said: “The system is already in place; the NGT is there and so is the SIT constituted by it.”
“I don’t know why he says we need another body to go deep into the alleged illegal mining activity when the best agency, the NGT is monitoring the activities on a regular basis,” he said.
On the allegation that the government is patronising illegal check gates in the state, Tynsong said, “We cannot blindly set up check gates. There is a formality for setting up of any check gate on the state or national highways.”