Meghalaya Native Slams CM Conrad Sangma for Taking Credit for Lifting of Coal Mining Ban in Open Letter

Shillong, August 19, 2019:

Pillarson D Sangma, a resident of Nokgil Awe area of Williamnagar in East Garo Hills of Meghalaya, has written an open letter to the state's Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, and questioned the Chief Minister for his 'celebration' after the Supreme Court suspended the ban against coal mining in the State.

Questioning about the quantity of coal that is apparently lying on the ground, extracted, Sangma asks "There is no more than 10 lakh tons of coal that are lying extracted but the government has put forward 32 lakhs. As this coal will now be auctioned by Coal India Limited (CIL) possibly through e-auction, the question is who will buy this coal and how will the government resolve the issue of 22 lakh tonnes of missing coal."

The Williamnagar native reasoned that the Supreme Court has not really lifted the ban as the ban pertains only to 'rat holes' and not to legal, scientific mining.

Pillarson Sangma also stated that to mine the minerals in the state, all central acts have to be followed. Moreover, he posited that miners now have to engage engineers to set up a mining plan along with machineries too expensive for small-time miners.

Sangma also slammed the Meghalaya CM for taking credit for the reopening of coal mining the state, adding that any deviation from the apex court's order would attract Contempt of Court proceedings.

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