TURA, March 7: West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner Ram Singh and Divisional Forest Officer Rupankar Marak have controverted the allegations levelled by BJP MDC from Tura, Bernard Marak, that overloaded trucks carrying boulders ply freely through Tura town at night without documents and without any fear of police checking.
In a statement, the DFO said, “The statement made is false as all trucks carrying stones that are moving through Garo Hills and to Bangladesh have to carry transit permits (challans) which are being regularly checked by our department.”
The DFO maintained that the export of stones through Dalu and Mahendraganj is only being permitted after the submission and cross-verification of all valid papers.
He also said that the stones, which are moved through various places, are locally and legally procured.
It is being used in the various road projects including the Ganol Hydro Electric Project as well as the ongoing Tura-Dalu road, the DFO informed.
Meanwhile, West Garo Hills DC has refuted the allegations that trucks are being allowed to move through Tura at night only to encourage illegality.
He reasoned that the trucks have been allowed to play on Tura roads during night with a sole objective to ensure smooth traffic throughout the day.
“There is no illegal activity going on during the transit of these trucks to their destinations. The vehicles are properly checked and if no stones are going to be transported through the roads here, it will impact ongoing infrastructural projects,” said Singh.
A few weeks ago, the WGH DC had directed the DFO to weed out all illegally operating quarries in the district, something that the Forest department has stressed that it is currently being undertaken.
“We are looking through the various quarries and will submit our findings to the Court soon on the matter. Action on these illegal operations will definitely be taken up,” added the Divisional Forest Officer.
On Sunday, Bernard had asked the Meghalaya High Court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to take cognisance of the alleged destruction of the environment through illegal stone quarries in Garo Hills, the illegalities of which extend across the international border till Bangladesh.
The BJP MDC had also said that overladen trucks carrying boulders ply freely through Tura town at night without documents and without any fear of police checking due to high-level involvement.
“People at the highest level benefit from these illegal quarries and illegal transportation,” Bernard had said.