SHILLONG, April 22: Despite being caught in a turbulent wave of censure, dissent and reproach, the state government continues to remain in a state of denial as far as illegal mining and transportation of coal is concerned. It has maintained that the numerous accusations by political parties are a political ploy to criticise the government.
The High Court of Meghalaya had recently directed the central police forces to be deployed in the state to arrest the illegal transportation of coal. But the state government is of the view that the transported coal is legal and belongs to Coal India Limited.
“There is no such illegal coal mining as of now,” MDA 2.0 spokesperson and Cabinet Minister, Marcuise N Marak, said on Saturday.
Marak said that the government has been on its toes against illegal coal mining and transportation, adding that many arrests have been made and cases filed.
“You must have seen so many vehicles caught by the police and cases have been filed. Now, there is no illegal coal mining but transportation of the Coal India Limited,” he added.
He further said that the issue is politicised and the steps taken by the government are seldom highlighted.
The High Court had directed the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to ensure the deployment of 10 companies of “appropriate” Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), strictly for the purpose of keeping vigil on the roads and arresting the illegal transportation of illegally-mined coal in the state.
Even the state police have been continuously slammed by the High Court for not doing enough to stop illegal mining and transportation of coal.
But Director-General of Police, Lajja Ram Bishnoi has defended the department claiming they have managed to keep the illegal mining and transportation of coal under check despite manpower shortage. He maintained that wherever mistakes are pointed out, the force tries to plug the loopholes.
After the High Court directive, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) had expressed its inability to provide 10 companies of its personnel for deployment in Meghalaya with the sole objective of checking illegal mining and transportation of coal. Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had earlier this week informed that he has already written to the central government requesting deployment of 10 companies of CAPF.
