The State government has filed a status report to the 18th interim report of Justice B P Katakey (retired) on illegal coal mining in the State.
The report was filed by the State government during the hearing of a pending PIL in the Meghalaya High Court today.
The division bench of the High Court comprising acting Chief Justice Hamarsan Singh Thangkhiew and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh has listed the matter for hearing on December 6.
Earlier, Justice Katakey in his recent report had revealed that 19 lakh tons of extracted and assessed coal had gone missing from depots despite the claim by the State government that the extracted coal is 32 lakh tons.
The findings by Justice Katakey during his recent field visits to coal depots including findings of continued illegal mining has embarrassed the State government which had always claimed that illegal mining and transportation of coal was no longer there.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma yesterday said that his government would examine the report of the one-member committee appointed by the Meghalaya High Court, which has suggested the need to frame guidelines for scientific mining of coal in Meghalaya.
“We will definitely examine the points mentioned by the one-member committee and wherever steps need to be taken we will take steps,” had said.
The chief minister had also said that continuous efforts are being made to stop illegal mining and transportation of coal and that the government is continuously monitoring the situation.
