NONGSTOIN, June 11: Illegal charcoal business in West Khasi Hills and Eastern West Khasi Hills districts continues unabated despite the crisis of global warming and imposition of the ban by the Supreme Court of India.
The illegal activity is reportedly thriving in every nook and corner of the two districts which produces tons of charcoal every year, while the authorities seem to turn a blind eye.
The government has been campaigning and even encouraging schoolchildren to preserve natural resources, especially planting of trees as a way of containing climate change and preventing disasters like floods, but such efforts are destined to end in futility if the transportation of illegal charcoal is not arrested.
With an effort to crack down on illegal transportation of charcoal to factories outside the state, the Meghalaya Clean and Green Organisation (MC&GO) was formed to tackle the mining, burning and transportation of charcoal in the state of Meghalaya and it was reported that the members of organisation have filed an FIR at Mairang Police Station against the trucks that transport charcoal illegally on a regular basis.
The trucks under question bear registration numbers ML12-0887, ML-10-C-0234, ML-05-A-2745 and ML-04-C-2724.
As per the inquiry made by the members of the MC&GO involving the truck drivers, it was learned that the truck drivers had to pay Rs 1,500 to the Forest department staff. According to the FIR filed at Mairang PS, the publicity secretary of the MC&GO, S Nongkhlaw, made an appeal to the authorities to take swift and strict action against the perpetrators in accordance with the Meghalaya Forest Regulation Amendment Act, 1973, and any other relevant acts and punish the guilty parties which include various factories.
The appeal was made also to take appropriate action against the owners of the trucks used in transport of the illegal charcoal.
