HC asks govt to probe illegal limestone mining in Jaintia Hills

SHILLONG, Feb 19: The High Court of Meghalaya has directed the state government to conduct an inquiry into alleged illegal mining of limestone in the Jaintia Hills region by Amrit Cement Industries Limited.
A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Indra Prasanna Mukerji and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh, issued the order on Wednesday based on a PIL filed by one Ranjit Chandra Goswami.
“The allegation in the petition is about illegal mining of limestone in the Jaintia Hills region by…Amrit Cement Industries Limited. On an application under the Right to Information Act made by SK Sharma, on 2nd March, 2022, the Guwahati Regional Office of the Indian Bureau of Mines under the Ministry of Mines wrote a letter to the applicant specifying a number of companies and the extent of mining leases granted to each of them in the Jaintia Hills region. According to this information, the respondent No 9 (Amrit Cement Industries Limited) did not have any license for mining limestone,” the court said in its order.
“It is alleged that without any license, they are indulging in illegal mining of limestone which they are using in their factory to make cement,” the court said.
It added that this mining activity is governed, inter alia, by Section 23C of Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, the Meghalaya Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2016 and the Meghalaya Mineral (Prevention of Illegal mining, Transportation and Storage) Rules, 2022 framed thereunder.
The court said before passing any substantive order at this stage, it would like to hear Amrit Cement Industries Limited and “other non-appearing respondents who have been directed to be served by this order.”
In the meantime, the court directed the state government to treat the petition as an informal complaint, conduct an inquiry and file a report before the returnable date.
The next hearing has been fixed on April 7.