TURA, April 9: In an effort to crack down on many illegal acts of illegal quarrying and coal mining in West Garo Hills, a team of the Meghalaya Minerals Development Corporation (MMDC) and the district administration paid surprise visits to many areas around the plain belt to put a stop to such acts.
Former CEM of the GHADC, Dipul Marak, who is also the co-chairman of the MMDC, was also a part of the raid along with deputy commissioner, Ram Singh, Superintendent of Police of West Garo Hills, Vivekanand Singh, and the range officer of the state Forest department.
Two teams, one covering Pipulbari and another covering Hollaidanga Range as well as covering other parts of the plain belt, was undertaken in an effort to curb the illegal acts that have put the entire local environment in serious peril.
“The visit yesterday followed due to several complaints from locals as well as NGOs of the area. During our visit, we visited the village of Balal Adugre where illegal coal mining was taking place. We saw five persons in the mine who mentioned that the mine belonged to the Nokma of the village and another Repnon Marak of Bolsalgre Selsella,” said Dipul.
Further within the same village, the former CEM mentioned that huge amounts of illegal stone mining were also seen with unscrupulous residents of Assam running the entire racket with some sort of secret understanding with the Nokams and clan members. Apart from quarries, there were at least two illegal stone crushers in the same village.
A report of his visit will be filed to the state government for further action, as per the former CEM.
“When we came into the village, many of the loaded trucks had been hiding. As soon as we went a little further, they sped away from the spot in such a hurry that if there was anyone in front of them, they would have been crushed. These illegal quarry owners are aware that what they are doing is against the law but they continue to do so,” said the MMDC co-chairman.
Deputy Commissioner, Ram Singh, who went to another area along with the district SP and Range officer, informed that they had meetings with Nokmas of the area in an effort to educate them as well as warn them of consequences.
“This is a part of our continuous efforts to crackdown on illegal mining of stones or coal within the district.
We have been raiding various places around the border with Assam as this is where the major illegal quarries and crushers have been set up,” said Ram Singh.
The DC informed that Nokmas of the area in question have been warned of the consequences and that they could be courting legal trouble in the future if they do not report such illegal acts within their lands.
“We have no other option and have asked them to file police complaints if people from Assam come to set up illegal quarries and crushers. If they don’t, we will file FIRs against them,” said the DC.
With most of the illegal setups near the border with Assam, Ram Singh stated that the efforts were continuous but due to the Meghalaya side being without much population and the Assam side teeming with people, it was difficult going.
“It’s the interstate border and we keep taking action but they try and set it up after a few days. This will continue until we have a deployment of police force to monitor the area. We have informed PHQ of the requirement,” he stated.
Further, a meeting with the district administration of South Salmara is being sought so that action can be taken from both sides.
“We have been directed by the HC to stop such activities and will meet the Assam administration on this. We will show them the extent of damage being done and seek action against those responsible for it so that such random environmental damage is stopped,” asserted the DC.
The entire stretch between Garobadha to Hallidayganj has over 300 massive, illegally operating stone quarries and many crushers. These setups have been flouting environmental norms causing extensive damage to roads, forests and water springs. With most of the operators being from Assam, action has been difficult.
Stories of attacks against policemen and forest personnel have been well documented with the perpetrators hardly being punished as these acts are done from hiding. A permanent deployment of troops in the area would be a solid start.