The illegally mined coal seized by authorities and dumped on the roadside at Mawiong Rim here keeps changing in terms of quantity.
There are times when the coal quantity is huge and there are also times when the quantity is less and this happened during night time.
This was informed by Mawiong Rim consultant A Kharshandi to media persons here today.
“The coal was seized by the district administration several years back but to date the coal dumped at the site keeps disappearing and keeps coming back from time to time during odd hours of the night. The place has become a coal dumping ground,” he said.
Informing that the Dorbar Shnong had time and again requested the authorities to remove the coal dump but there was no response, Kharshandi said that today, they have asked East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Rosetta Mary Kurbah to remove the coal within 15 days.
He also informed that during the meeting with Kurbah, she assured that a tender would be floated for auction of the coal and that the entire process would be completed within a week.
“Since the DC has given us her assurance we will wait for that,” Kharshandi said.
O Linus Marbaniang, another member of the Dorbar Shnong, said that the presence of the coal at the site has affected the sources of drinking water and fishing ponds of the residents in the area especially during rainy days.
“The water has become acidic and in fishing ponds the fishes are found to be retarded,” he said.
