Student leader turned government minister Hamletson Dohling visited the uranium exploratory site in Nongbah-Jynrin, South West Khasi Hills and said that experts need to be independent in their investigation into alleged radiation leaks at the site.
The government had recently bowed to pressure and constituted an expert committee to probe the alleged leakage of radioactive elements into the surrounding environment, including a river, from the site.
Dohling, a former General Secretary of the Khasi Students Union, which was and is at the forefront of opposition to uranium mining in the state, had met with Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma to urge that the government not remain idle after constituting the committee.
“The members of the expert committee to study the alleged leakage of radiation should be independent,” the Community and Rural Development Minister said, adding that around 650 kilogrammes of uranium ore had been mined from the site by the Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL).
He called for a study into whether remnants of the exploratory drilling in concrete tanks that have supposedly cracked contain harmful elements or not.
“We expect that the committee will unravel the obscurity in the matter,” he added.
Dohling also felicitated Spelity Lyngdoh Langrin of Domiasiat, South West Khasi Hills, who has steadfastly opposed uranium mining from 1990 onwards.
