Editor,
Have we forgotten, that sad tragedy of December 2018 where miners were trapped inside the dark world of a rat hole for many days? The rescue operation which was suspended after over 75 days (December 13, 2018 – March 2, 2019), was one of the longest rescue efforts in the country, and it also could be the costliest operation. The administration had to seek the assistance teams from Coal India, Kirloskar Brothers, Odisha Fire Services team, the Indian Air Force, and the Indian Navy, etc. to join the operation to rescue the miners. Only the Indian Army was ;left out of the rescue operations? It seems that the Meghalaya Government had also forgotten the Rs 100 (hundred) crore slapped by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). Tragically a few stubborn individuals are still asking for proof to defend illegal mining and transportation of coal in the state.
The NGT also directed 31 (thirty-one) illegal coke plants to pay a fine of over Rs 4.75 crore as environmental compensation for their failure to abide by the procedures established by law. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) also slapped thousands of crores of fines to many states in India, for allegedly not managing solid as well as liquid waste management causing harm to the environment. Handling of sewage and solid waste is covered in the 11th and 12th schedule of the Constitution of India. Therefore, it is the constitutional responsibility of the state and local municipal bodies to provide a pollution-free environment to the people, and to ensure the right to life. Sooner or later the state will be again slapped with crores of rupees of fine. The Rs.109 crores committed by the State Government may be not enough. The amount will be fixed, based on the “polluter pay principles” ie. (EC=PI x N x R x S x LF) and Rs 2 crores per million litres per day (MLD) and Rs 300 per tonne for unprocessed legacy waste, since sewage is directly being dumped into the Umkhrah and Umshyrpi rivers, etc., and the same will naturally be dumped into the Umiam river and further downstream.
The question is who paid the Rs 100 (hundred) crore fine and the cost of rescue operations? It has all gone from the public exchequer of course. Now, we do not know how many extra crores, the general public must pay. Those of us who are polluting the environment must also pay. That’s the polluter pays principle and its is a fair principle.
Yours etc.,
Pakyntein
Via email
Invasion of Iraq – An Illegal War
Editor,
Apropos of the news item “20 years on , George Bush’s promise of democracy in Iraq , Middle East falls short (ST March 26, 2023), one lesson that has not been learned is that it is near impossible to achieve an honest outcome from a dishonest objective . Invasion of Iraq remains one of the most controversial wars of modern history The war was an act of dishonesty based on lies and naked criminality. There were no weapons of mass destruction, The invading countries were dishonest actors. They claimed to want to bring democracy to Iraq but ended up establishing a kleptocracy.
The return of the controversial war to news headlines around the world has revived memories of India’s close brush with disaster. In the summer of 2003 India nearly gave in to US Pressure to enter the Iraqi Killing Zone. Senior ministers and a number of Indian strategic commentators kept up a steady drumbeat calling for the country to send troops to help the Americans. But Vajpayee kept his cool and refused to participate in an unforgivable crime. There were discussions where ideas were exchanged. Then Mr Vajpayee called a meeting of the NDA and alliance partners. Vajpayee respected the idea of consensus and the consensus that emerged was that India should not send its troops to Iraq. If there was any justice in this world, Bush, Cheney, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Powell, Rice, Wolfowitz (and hundreds of others) would have been tried and likely convicted of war crimes.
Yours etc.,
Haque, Advocate,
Via email
Divergence in poverty rates
Editor,
Yesterday while searching for the poverty rate of the different states in the country online, I came across the data on poverty released by RBI for the year 2022.The data was published in the Handbook of Statistics on Indian economy. The data on poverty published in the handbook is based on the calculation according to the Tendulkar method on mixed reference period and the main criterion is consumption expenditure. Meghalaya’s poverty rate based on the aforementioned method was 22.67 percent and there were 11 states that fared worse than Meghalaya.
Last year when NITI AAYOG released the multidimensional poverty index, there was chastisement of our policy makers since Meghalaya was at the bottom of the All India ranking. The index is based on 12 indicators of health, education and standard of living. According to this index, Meghalaya’s poverty rate was 32.67 percent and only Bihar, Jharkhand, UP and MP fared much worse than us. The divergence in poverty rates of different states based on the two methods especially when it comes to Meghalaya is interesting and thought provoking at the same time.
Yours etc.,
Gary Marbaniang,
Via email
Aggressive stray dogs
Editor,
The number of stray dogs is increasing in 18- West Shillong Constituency. This causes a lot of problems to the people passing especially during the morning and at night. Many of these stray dogs are aggressive, ferociously wild, and simply uncontrollable in their behaviour and are randomly attacking school children and people passing by. Time and again many letters have been published regarding this issue but no action is being taken. The number of dogs is increasing in numbers whereas the concerned authorities are not paying attention to this serious matter. The Shillong Municipal Board must tackle the situation at the earliest to prevent further attacks on the people residing in these areas.
Yours etc.,
R Sarki,
Shillong -2