SHILLONG: Chief Minister Mukul Sangma on Wednesday directed the Chief Secretary to regularly review the matter pertaining to alternative mining plan with the Centre and address all issues on time.
Replying to a call attention moved by Sohra MLA TW Chyne on a news item published in The Shillong Times under the headline ‘Meghalaya misses NGT deadline, LS told’, Sangma said the issue is complex even as he added that it needs to be jointly addressed by the various Ministries of the Union and the State governments.
While seeking cooperation from all stakeholders, the chief minister added that certain clauses of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, and Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973, were coming in the way and that Meghalaya should be exempted.
Stating that the State government has submitted a model mining plan to the Centre, he added that the plan is being examined by various line ministries of the department.
It may be mentioned that the Assembly had earlier adopted a resolution urging the Centre for invoking Para 12 A (b) of the Sixth Schedule through a presidential notification to ensure that the relevant provisions of the two central mining acts are exempted for operation in Meghalaya.
The chief minster further said the State government is taking the help of senior legal experts in this regard.
It may be mentioned that Meghalaya has missed the National Green Tribunal’s deadline for submitting an alternative mining plan even as the State continues to incur losses to the tune of Rs 5,700 crore annually.
The NGT had, on July 21 this year, directed the State government, the coal and the environment ministries to hold a meeting in two weeks to finalise the mining plan.
