Shillong, April 21: The one-man inquiry committee headed by Justice (retd) B P Katakey which was appointed to recommend to the state government the measures on coal-related issues, informed today that so far 6 lakh metric tons of inventorised coal has been auctioned by CIL and the process is on to expedite the auction so that by May another 12 lakh mt can be put to sale.
Informing that he has taken stock of the quantity of coal transported to the designated depot and the coal is only a part of inventorised coal which is around 14 lakh tons in quantity, he said, ” As per the time schedule given by the High Court, by end of May the government requires to sell 12 lakh metric tons of coal and so far 6 lakh metric tons of coal have been put to auction by CIL in tune with the Supreme Court order”.
“So, they are behind the schedule by 30 days and I am trying to expedite so that by May, 12 lakh mt of coal could be put to sale,” he added.
He said, “what we are trying to do now is to put into auction the entire 14 lakh mt before monsoon starts.”
He added, “Then we will have another 2-3 lakh mt of coal only inventorised for sale and other than that any coal found is from illegal source.
Katakey had a review meeting earlier in the morning on directions issued.
Talking about the meeting he said, “I have taken stock about the ongoing investigation relating to the death of three miners. They have already registered a case and a preliminary post-mortem report was submitted”.
He said that investigation is on regarding another report and they are waiting to ascertain the possibility of poisoning based on that they will finalise the investigation.
Meanwhile, Chairman of Independent Committee on auction Naba Bhattacharjee said, ” The success of the auction itself proves that illegal mining and transportation is coming down”.
“We have put 4.42 lakh metric tons for auction out of that 3.38 lakh bid has been given and almost all money for almost the entire amount has been deposited.”
“Almost close to Rs 50-60 crores after about four years will come to the government exchequer because of succcessful auction,” he added.
