The inquiry report regarding illegal coal mining in the State especially at Nengchigen village in West Khasi Hills will be filed by Chief Secretary Rebecca V. Suchiang before the one-week deadline given by the Meghalaya High Court.
Yesterday, the High Court had directed Suchiang and acting Director General of Police Idashisha Nongrang to file an independent report about reports of illegal rat-hole mining activities.
“The report in the form of an affidavit will be submitted soon to the court. The court has given a week’s time to file it,” Suchiang told media persons here today.
On the order of the High Court that the Chief Secretary and the acting DGP should visit the illegal mining sites, Suchiang said that a team will be sent to visit and inspect the site.
“There will be a team to inspect the site. The High Court’s order does mention ‘preferably’ but yes I have asked the Deputy Commissioner of South Garo Hills to visit the site,” she added.
According to Suchiang, though Nengchigen village falls under West Khasi Hills, she chose to ask the Deputy Commissioner of South Garo Hills due to its proximity and also the accessibility of the road to the village.
The High Court yesterday took sou motu cognisance of a newspaper article highlighting the prevalence of rat-hole mining in Nengchigen village of West Khasi Hills.
“An independent report should be filed by the Chief Secretary to the State and the Director General of Police when this matter appears a week hence, preferably, upon visiting the areas. It is made clear that the matter complained of needs to be looked into, without any political interference; or else, the Court may be constrained to appoint a fact-finding committee or even put a special investigation team in place or take the assistance of some agency so that the matter is appropriately and thoroughly investigated in accordance with law and the persons involved are brought to book,” a division bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh had stated in the order.
The division bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh passed the order based on the news report in The Shillong Times which appeared yesterday with the heading “Mask of rat-hole mining falls in state.” The news report was filed by a correspondent of the newspaper.
The High Court also said that both the Chief Secretary and the acting Director General of Police are free to take the assistance of the correspondent from The Shillong Times who visited the area and has described the entire scenario in great detail in the news report.
The correspondent who filed the news report gave a detailed description of how the was taken to Nengchigen village in West Khasi Hills District bordering the South Garo Hills District where illegal coal mining was going on.
A photograph has also been published in the newspaper to highlight the “rat hole mining” that is being indulged in a widespread manner.
Earlier, a complaint had been lodged by the Nokma of Nengchigen village against certain persons, including the police, alleging widespread illegal mining of coal within the clan lands.
