Responsibility for instituting an independent inquiry into the mining disaster in the Rymbai area in East Jaiñtia Hills last week, which resulted in the deaths of six labourers, lies with Home Minister Lahkmen Rymbui alone, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said today.
When asked about the growing apprehension that unabated illegal coal mining is the norm in the state, Tynsong said that everything in this connection has been entrusted to Rymbui.
The State government is against all illegal activities and the law will take its course, he added, and there are certain issues where the Central Bureau of Investigation can probe matters on its own.
When it was suggested to the Deputy CM that people resort to illegal coal mining because they do not have other options, Tynsong said the people who want to extract coal can always apply for a mining lease and, with strict adherence to the law, the lease will be given to the miners.
Tynsong also brushed over the demand by the state President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is part of the governing coalition, for Rymbui’s resignation by saying that the subject had not been raised by either of the two BJP MLAs.
