SHILLONG, MAR 16: Meghalaya government has moved the union government to allow either the regional office of the coal controller and director general or the state government to grant clearance and approval for mining plan modification and mine closure plan considering the mines in the state are of relatively small sizes.
Replying during the ongoing assembly session, chief minister Mukul Sangma said, “As an offshoot of this exercise of the state government, the ministry of coal has constituted an expert committee led by Central Mine Planning and Design Institute to prepare broad guidelines for the mining of coal in the state of Meghalaya and Directorate General of Mine Safety to prepare guidelines regarding health and occupation, safety and other related issues.”
Stating that the state does not have any competent technical personnel, Sangma informed that the assistant of experts constituted by the union ministry of coal will be essential to prepare guidelines for facilitating systemic, scientific and plan utilization of mineral resources and bringing coal mining into the fold of regulatory regime.
Earlier while raising the issue, UDP legislator Jemino Mawthoh alleged that the NGT ban is the fall out due of the delay by the state government in the implementing the Mining Policy in the state.
Recalling that a committee was constituted in 2009 under the chairmanship of former deputy chief minister Bindo Mathew Lanong, Mawthoh said, “During the sitting of this committee where numbers of departments had been involved to give their inputs as far mining policy is concerned and several opinions and views solicited from stakeholders including government department like PHE, Mining and Geology department.”
Mawthoh, however, lamented that when it came to implementation the mining policy was stalled as it was in conflicts with the central laws.
Sangma replied saying there are number of laws which is specific to coal and the main central laws which come into direct conflict in the process of implementation of the policy is the Mines and Minerals Development Regulation Act, 1957 and also the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973.”
Sangma , however, said the government had given the responsibility to MS Lyngdoh, Director of Mineral Resources to associate with the experts group in and have had two meetings with representatives of central mine planning and design institute, central pollution control board to prepare guidelines for facilitating scientific and plan mining of mineral resources and bringing coal mining into the fold of regulatory regime.
Claiming that these exercises were made as an offshoot to the letter he had written to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requesting the Centre to invoke provision of Para 12 A (b) so that the relevant provisions of those central laws which comes into conflict can be decided through presidential notification that they shall not imply to whole of schedule area of Meghalaya. – By Our Reporter
There are two ways to be done away with the NGT Act 2010 and both are interlink:-
1. under Section 4 (3) of the NGT Act 2010, that the tribunal’s jurisdiction can be excluded from Meghalaya.
2. para 12 A (b) of the Sixth schedule to the constitution of India, that NGT Act via notification from the President that the said shall not be applicable or has to be modified to suits our customary rights and traditions; Rights over our land/property, and the mining here is specific and unique due to the location and pattern of coal seams.
The State’s Mining Policy 2012 will have to be overhauled as it totally contradicts with our customs and traditions, the policy is impractical here in the state. The policy was just a cut and paste from the central mining Acts.