ON April 28, the Meghalaya High Court observed that the Commissioner of Transport may have misled the Court with data and statements in the number of heavy vehicles transporting boulders and other minerals to Bangladesh through NH-206 between Jowai-Amlarem towards Dawki. which in gross violation of the law. Anyone travelling along the That Meghalaya is selling at between 300-400 of truckloads of boulders, sand, limestone and other minor minerals to Bangladesh every day is a no brainer. And that the Transport Department should provide wrong data is also not surprising since most trucks pass through and cross the borders without the necessary papers. The system is well-oiled to provide for free flow of goods without the mandatory checks and balances either from the Indian side or the Bangladesh side.
The Border Security Force stationed at the border is not mandated to check all documents that the Customs in charge are mandated to strictly carry out. But even there, laxity cannot be ruled out. The then Commissioner of Customs had in 2015 travelled all the way to Ichamati to find out whether the trucks moving from the Meghalaya side towards Bangladesh were put through the mandatory weighbridge to determine the exact weight carried by each truck and the total load sent per day and therefore the customs fees accruing to the Department. When a truck was told to pass through the weighbridge, the Customs Commissioner was told that it was not working. When asked since when it was not working, the person in charge said it was not working for a long while. This means there is no record of the quantum of goods passing through the Indian (Meghalaya) border towards Bangladesh.
In August 2024, the State Forest Department under the Meghalaya Mines and Mineral rules, had stated that truck owners and drivers transporting boulders and sand require to have a challan issued by the Department. At the time the Truckers’ Association had sought clarification on the provisions of the Meghalaya Mineral (Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation, and Storage) Rules, 2022. This is because most quarries in Meghalaya are run arbitrarily without permission from the District Councils and environmental clearance from the Forest Department. For instance, a quarry operating above the River Wahniangleng – a river that provides water to the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme, had no permission to operate the quarry that was carrying several truckloads of boulders daily to Bangladesh through the Pynursla -Dawki route. When this matter was brought to light, the KHADC stepped in and found that the quarry operated without any permission. This is just one instance. There are several operating in a similar manner. Hence the number of quarries from where boulders are extracted and transported to Bangladesh are not strictly recorded. Systems operated by humans have to be constantly monitored because there is corruption and maladministration at every level, especially in places located at a distance from government supervision – such as district headquarters. The High Court may issues orders but it is the same Government machinery that has to implement the orders. This is where the problem lies and things remain unresolved despite Court rulings.
