TURA: In the light of allegations by organisations from East Garo Hills that a stone mining company- Marak Favers and Stone Industries is illegally extracting stones from within the catchment areas of the Simsang River near Samanda and its adjoining areas, the East Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner has deputed magistrates to conduct an inquiry into the allegations.
Earlier on Tuesday, organisations including the GSU, FKJGP and the AAYF had alleged that the quarry was extracting stones from the catchment areas including from Simsang riverbed itself and had approached the deputy commissioner seeking action against the alleged illegal activity.
When contacted, East Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner, L Ch Marak said that judging by the photos shown to him by the organisations it appeared that the allegations were based on facts.
“It will be illegal if stones are being extracted from within the catchment areas. And looking at photos shown to me, it looks like the same is being done by the quarry,” Marak said.
When asked if the stones are also being extracted from the Simsang riverbed itself as alleged by the organisations, the deputy commissioner did not rule out the possibility as there are no stones that can be legally extracted from the area.
However, the deputy commissioner said that the truth would be revealed only on completion of the inquiry which had already been initiated and any kind action in case of any violations would be taken only after the submission of the inquiry report.