Tura, Aug 05: The GSU is concerned about the state wide Meghalaya bandh called by the people of Khasi- Jaintia Hills and Garo Hills under the banner the State Co-ordination Committee of coal Owners’, miners’ and Dealers’Forum on 6th August 2014. It seems that the Govt. of Meghalaya is notserious about the problems faced by the thousands of people in
Meghalaya.
It seems that the Meghalaya Govt. is not well aware about
the loss of revenue with the imposition of NGT ban in Khasi- Jaintia
Hills and in Garo Hills respectively. The failure of the recently
scrapped committee to comply with the NGT’s directives purely shows
its unwillingness to solve the problem. The Govt. Of Meghalaya should
immediately take a serious note about the issue and start working for
the welfare of the citizens of Meghalaya. The Govt. of Meghalaya
should contemplate and take actions to correct the issue taking into
consideration the multitudes of factors who do affect the people by
studying the issue from all angles.
The government must understand the repercussions the many sections of
Meghalaya face which is serious; case in point, the livelihood and
earnings of large sections of people of the state that the NGT imposed
ban have and on the other hand, there is the seriousness of the impact
on the environment which will truly cause havoc not only on the health
of the people but the negative impacts on the flora and fauna of which
the most serious being the pollution of the rivers and streams not to
mention the aquatic animals.
The protection of the environment is of utmost importance and the GSU
urges the government to take utmost care to protect it. The decision
of the Govt. should reflect a well balanced policy which is in the
greatest interest of the state but also taking care to look into the
grievances of the sections of the people.
The NGT must allow the transportation of extracted coal as the rainy
season will wash away some of the coal into the water ways thereby
negating the move of the NGT to protect the environment. The NGT must
understand the desperation of those engaged in coal extraction
business whose huge amount of money is locked in coal.
The GSU humbly request the Govt of Meghalaya to take a serious note
of the issue and prepare an environment friendly Mining Plan which
will not dilute the Sixth Schedule or the issue of land ownership of
the indigenous people.(SP News)
