The Local Truck Owners and Drivers Association in a meeting held at Umphyrnai today decided to resume the transportation of sand and boulders but without the state government’s transport challan.
The association’s leader, Egenstar Kurkalang, maintained that their local truck drivers and owners are transporting the material locally, unlike coal or limestone that goes outside the state or country.
“We have also, under one voice, agreed to come out publicly if the government seizes any local truck without challan,” he said.
Recently, the association announced a sudden halt to the transportation of sand and boulders. The association said that the implementation by the state government of the Meghalaya Minerals Prevention of Illegal Mining Transportation and Storage Rules 2022 has hurt truck drivers and owners who are unaware of the law’s details.
The association said that the government had implemented it without proper clarification of the rules to the truckers, and that has resulted in several drivers from Laitkor, Laitkroh, Umphyrnai, and other places having been detained and their consignments seized by authorities from the district administration and Forest Department.
Kurkalang further said that they will be meeting the government to discuss the act.
