The vice-president of the Meghalaya BJP and Tura MDC, Bernard Marak, has urged for the intervention of the Meghalaya High Court and National Green Tribunal into alleged illegal stone quarries in Garo Hills.
In a statement issued today, Marak said that several illegal stone quarries are being run in the Pipulbari areas of East Garo Hills. Trucks carrying the stone then have to pay a “goonda tax” of Rs 2,500 per vehicle to get them over the border into Bangladesh, he added.
The involvement of the top echelons of government means that the trucks, normally overloaded, travel freely through Tura at night without documentation but are not stopped by police.
Being overloaded, the trucks damage roads and Tura-Dalu Road construction has also been badly affected, the MDC added.
