Shillong, Mar 22: Erwin K Syiem Sutnga, spokesperson for the Synjuk ki Rangbah Kur ka Bri U Hynniewtrep, has stated that every inquiry affecting public interest should be made public, particularly regarding the Thangsko illegal mining incident.
“This is related to illegal coal mining and affects the interest of the public immensely and it has to be made public,” he told HP recently.
Sutnga stressed that if legal, security and monitoring machinery can be circumvented, it’s obvious there’s a big nexus. “We don’t know who these people are because we don’t have the facts, but the inference is clear: they’ve bypassed all this, and the logical conclusion is that there’s a nexus. Accountability must be there.”
Regarding the use of explosives at Thangsko, Sutnga questioned how regulations were overridden and dynamite was transported. “With so many orders in place, why was there no strict enforcement?” He added that people need to know why this happened and what solutions are being proposed.
Sutnga however expressed deep concern about the livelihood of affected people, terming persistent illegal coal mining a significant problem. “When you’ve snatched people’s livelihoods, why haven’t you found ways to open coal mining properly?” He asked why legal coal mining processes weren’t sped up and why alternatives weren’t provided.
He emphasised that this is a matter of clashing livelihoods, laws, and people’s rights. “The question is, what will people eat if they don’t get to work? If the government says this should be replaced with another occupation, what’s the success rate?” Sutnga added that it’s easy to suggest alternatives like tourism or horticulture, but people need training and mindset adjustments, requiring long-term solutions.
