Shillong, Feb 17: Meghalaya Assembly Speaker Thomas A Sangma on the second day of the Budget Session today rejected a discussion on the recent incident at Thangsko where 33 miners died in an illegal coal mine as the matter is sub-judice.
Opposition MLA for Nongkrem Ardent M Basaiawmoit of the Voice of the People’s Party (VPP) had requested a discussion on the matter but Thomas Sangma said that a discussion would go against standing rules.
Basaiawmoit, however, slammed the government for what he said was it hiding behind the sub-judice classification.
“Many a time the executive will use this sub-judice provision in the rules as an excuse to avoid debates, to avoid embarrassment and avoid accountability,” he told reporters outside the Assembly. “Even the courts have repeatedly held that legislative discussion is not barred unless you interfere in the adjudication of the court… But the government, as always, is hiding under this provision.”
The subject is not a trivial one but is of public importance because it concerns the loss of a great number of lives, the opposition legislator said.
Basaiawmoit said that, after consulting local people, he suspects that the figure of 33 dead is a gross underestimate and the VPP wants to know how the government came to its figure. “It is unfortunate that the rescue operation was called off so fast. Locals are 100 per cent sure that the figures given by the government are too small.”
The February 5 disaster at Thangsko was not the first such mining incident in the state but it is the deadliest since rat-hole mining was banned by the National Green Tribunal in 2014. Facing a barrage of criticism, the government has undertaken action against other illegal coal mine operations in East Jaintia Hills since the explosion.
“The government has denied that illegal coal mining is happening but this time it can no longer deny it,” Basaiawmoit said. Warnings that illegal mining was taking place were issued not just by the VPP but by the Justice (retd) BP Katakey commission on illegal coal but the government denied them all, Basaiawmoit added.
In the Assembly, Thomas Sangma said that Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had given a suo motu statement on the Thangsko incident. Almost nothing in his lengthy statement was new information, however.
Supporting the VPP member’s request for a discussion, Leader of the Opposition and Songsak MLA Dr Mukul Sangma of the Trinamool Congress said that there is space within the rules to discuss certain matters that are relevant.
