Out of 402 cases registered for illegal transportation of illegally mined coal in Meghalaya, investigation into 65 cases are still pending.
Similarly, out of 83 cases registered for illegal mining of coal, investigation into 50 cases is still pending.
These cases were registered by police stations in different districts of the State under Section 21 of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 and the Indian Penal Code on illegal transportation of coal from July 2019 to February 2024.
This was revealed by the Single Member Committee of Justice (Retd) Brojendra Prasad Katakey in his 22nd interim report submitted to the Meghalaya High Court yesterday.
The committee however, said that has not been appraised by the State police about the reasons for pendency of investigation and also the result of the trial of the cases where such trials have been completed.
The committee has advised the Assistant Inspector General of Police (A) Sacheng R. Marak to apprise it, within a fortnight, the reasons for pendency of investigation into the cases and also the outcome of the trial of the cases where such trial have been completed.
Moreover, the committee found that not a single abandoned coal mine so far has been closed as the process of closure is still in the initial stage mainly the preparation of Detail Project Report (DPR) by the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Limited(CMPDI).
It is on record that in East Jaintia Hills alone there are about 26,000 rat-hole mine openings which need to be closed down because of the ban on the rat-hole coal mining, to avoid the risk of loss of human life as well as of the livestock.
“Till such closure, such openings may be fenced so that nobody can go near the mine pits,” the committee said while also recommending that the project for closure of abandoned mines needs to be implemented urgently and the Mining and Geology Department needs to take urgent steps for preparation of DPR for that purpose.
The committee also said that no progress appears to have been made in taking steps for restoration of environmental damage caused by coal mining activities except sanction of few projects out of the Meghalaya Environment Protection and Restoration Fund (MEPRF), which are also yet to be audited.
Stating that there is sufficient fund in MEPRF which is about Rs 400 crore and another amount of more than Rs 100 crore with the Central Pollution Control Board for implementation of the action plan prepared for restoration of environmental damages caused by the mining activities, the committee recommended necessary steps should be taken by the concerned departments urgently for restoration of environmental damages caused, as the people of the concerned mining areas are still suffering because of the continued Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) from the mine pits which have not so far been closed.
Further, the committee said that no audit of MEPRF has been conducted till date, as the name of the auditor is yet to be approved by the Oversight Committee constituted by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
“Audit of such fund is very much necessary to find out as to whether the amount released from MEPRF for implementation of various projects are in fact properly utilised or not,” the committee said while recommending appointment of the auditor at the earliest by the Oversight Committee constituted by the NGT for auditing the fund so as to avoid misuse of public fund.
