Shillong: For nearly a month now, coal trucks have been piling on to the highways yet again. Along the Shillong-Guwahati four-lane highway, beginning from Shang Bangla up unto Umling where the weigh bridge is located, the right side of the road from Shillong to Guwahati is occupied by hundreds of coal trucks which are double parked on the road.
Hence the four-lane highway is practically a two-lane one today since trucks have virtually taken over the other lane.
The NGT order clearly says that only coal which has been extracted before the ban in April this year would be allowed to be transported after the quantum has been assessed by the NGT appointed Committee and royalty has been paid for the same.
It is learnt that the Directorate of Mining and Geology has actually assessed the quantum of extracted coal and the Deputy Commissioners of the three districts – West Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and East Garo Hills – are to oversee that the NGT order is not violated.
Sources have informed this correspondent that coal mining has started on the sly in all the three coal mining districts. They say the extracted coal would not have lasted even a few weeks judging by the number of trucks per day that are carrying the coal to Beltola, Assam. The correspondent tried to call up the Additional Chief Secretary, Mining and Geology, Y. Tshering, for his comments on the matter. Tshering did not pick up the calls and neither did he respond to the SMS messages seeking clarification from him. Sources say that the State Government is tacitly supporting the coal mine owners by looking the other way even while the coal mafia makes a mockery of the NGT ban.
Coal trucks in large numbers are passing through Shillong and by-passing the Shillong Bypass ostensibly to avoid the toll gates which according to sources are charging an exorbitant sum. But coal truck drivers allege that extortion by police along the Shillong Bypass has also shot up and made their lives miserable. Hence they try and escape by passing through Shillong city.
