Shillong, Jun 1: Police forced out Marshal SB Biam, president of the Jaintia Coal Miners, Suppliers and Workers Association (JCMSWA), today evening while he was staging a protest at the foot of the Kiang Nangbah statue near the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Khliehriat.
Authorities also dispersed other JCMSWA members who were sitting with him.
The protest was organised to highlight the problems faced by people in East Jaintia Hills following the ban on rat-hole coal mining imposed in 2014.
Speaking to the media, JCMSWA members said they have faced severe hardship since the ban on coal mining, which was imposed by the National Green Tribunal over the disastrous environmental consequences of rat-hole mining. This form of mineral extraction was also extremely dangerous to those working in the mines.
Although so-called scientific mining is set to be introduced in the state to get the mining industry going again, small landowners and others have complained that the prerequisites for a scientific mining licence are too stringent and expensive for them to meet.
