Conrad assured scientifc mining of coals soon

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaMarch 12, 2020

Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday said that the state government will soon come up with environment-friendly and scientific procedure for resuming coal mining in the state. 

Sangma however told reporters that the onus now lies on the land owners since ownership of land and coal has been given to them. 

He was referring to the Supreme Court’s ruling passed on July 3, last year which clearly stated that “the private owners of the land as well as community owners have both the surface right as well as sub-soil rights.” 

“It is the land owners, who now have to speak to consultant, prepare their mining plans and apply through the state government to government of India to get the approval of the mining plan. Therefore, the onus now lies on the coal miners,” the chief minister said. 

“The Govt of Meghalaya can guide them and take them to the consultants and can prepare a rough procedure of environment-friendly mining plan but then every mine is unique as it got different topography, different aspect, different nature – all those things have to be taken into consideration. Every miner or land owner will have to go through their own process to do that,” he said. 

On the steps taken by the government, Sangma said, “We have started sensitizing the people in more than 4-5 districts. We have identified consultants who will guide them and we are preparing a draft for scientific mining, which again is not copy-paste as it has to be then modified and adjusted according to the specific needs of the miners.” 

Asked, the chief minister informed that applications from four parties have been received so far and the government is expecting more to come forward. 

“If all goes well, then government of India should give permission for the mining plans at the earliest so we do hope very soon hopefully mining will start but it will depend on government of India approval on how well the plan is prepared,” he stated.