TURA: Despite much hue and cry having taken place about illegal coal mining in the state, attempts are once again being made to break the law by the coal mafia with dozens of trucks loaded with the illegal consignment allegedly parked on a village road inside Rambrai-Jyrngam constituency of West Khasi Hills being prepared for export into Assam through the Garo village road of Malangkona towards Dhupdhara- the entry point into the neighbouring state.
Several villagers from the Malangkona region, which is the gateway from Riangdo to Dhupdhara, have raised an alarm about the stationing of dozens of coal laden trucks at a nearby Garo village called Werang.
While Riangdo is 14 kms from Malangkona, Werang village is barely 5 kms away.
There are allegations the illegal mining and export is being orchestrated by a public leader from that region.
“About 50 to 60 coal laden trucks are already lined up on the Werang-Malangkona road in preparation for transit at night. Our road is deteriorating day by day. Please stop this,” appealed social activists to the government.
Locals from Malangkona region informed The Shillong Times that the coal mafia is bringing the extracted coal from Shallang and Nongstoin to Riangdo from where it is transported through the Malangkona road.
“All these illegal activities take place after 9 O’clock in the night when the village roads are empty. The coal trucks move into Dhupdhara and Dudhnoi and are taken either directly to the railway depot or peoples’ open fields where they are unloaded,” revealed a village source.
According to locals from the area, the coal mafia has been targeting three routes to ship their illegal consignment from West Khasi Hills to the neighbouring state.
“Earlier, they used the village roads of Aradonga and Langpih that came out in Assam. But now they find the Werang-Malangkona road through Riangdo the most convenient for their illegal trade,” informed sources.
With virtually no form of vigilance along the remote West Khasi Hills roads the coal mafia has been making a windfall out of the illegal trade.
