Mining policy
SHILLONG: A Government constituted committee headed by Additional Chief Secretary Y. Tsering is examining the issue of review of Meghalaya Mines and Mineral Policy 2012 to facilitate scientific methods to mine minerals due to NGT ban on rat hole mining.
Forest and Environment Minister Prestone Tynsong told reporters on Thursday that the Committee is working on the review of the Mineral policy.
The review is in tune with the direction of NGT to take several measures to ensure scientific mining.
The Government had failed to incorporate clauses in the Mining Policy to control the rat hole mining and phase-wise rehabilitation of miners.
This has resulted in current situation due to the sudden imposition of interim ban on rat hole mining by National Green Tribunal on April 17 last year.
The Mineral Policy of 2012 does not ban rat coal mining as one of the clauses says that “small and traditional system of mining by local people in their own land shall not be unnecessarily disturbed”.
The absence of a proper Mining Policy has also resulted in the delay on the part of the Government to insist for scientific mining of coal in a time bound manner and, moreover, the Mining Policy treated rat hole mining as traditional system of extraction of coal.
NGT had already asked the State Government to prepare mining and environment plans among others before lifting the ban on rat hole mining.
