A day after leader of the opposition, Dr Mukul Sangma, visited a coal auction site in Nengkra Adalgre, East Garo Hills he said that he will make more such visits to find out if there really is the level of extracted coal present as the government claims or whether it has been filched.
Yesterday he claimed that the site he visited had less than a fraction of the 34,000 tonnes of coal that was supposed to be there actually was. The rest, he stated, had been illegally transported to avoid the payment of royalties and blamed the government for being involved in an illegal nexus with the coal mafia.
“If anybody wants to challenge my claim, they can go to ground zero and see if the coal is really there,” Dr Sangma said after a Congress Party meeting here today. “If it is proven that 32 lakh tonnes of extracted coal is still there (in the state as the government claims) I will quit politics.”
Such alleged illegal transportation has deprived the district councils in Garo and Jaiñtia Hills (GHADC and JHADC) of crores of royalties, which has led to them experiencing a financial crunch, the former Chief Minister said.
