The Justice (Retd) B P Katakey committee has recommended the use of explosives to blow up the entrance to coal mines in South West Khasi Hills where there were allegations of fresh illegal coal mining.
In its 25th Interim Report submitted before the division bench of Meghalaya High Court today, the Katakey committee sought technical and logical support from the government to enable sealing of entrance to these mines by explosives to prevent reactivation.
The proposal by the committee for use of explosives to blow up the entrance to these coal mines was on the basis of difficulty expressed by the district authorities to inspect and monitor the coal mines at regular intervals.
As per the reports of the Additional Deputy Commissioner, filed before the committee, it was stated that “there are also countless abandoned coal mines, some of which could be easily activated in a very short time period”.
The High Court said that this matter needs to be addressed urgently by the State government.
On the Katakey committee’s recommendation for survey by satellite imagery of the coal bearing areas in the State, the North East Space Applications Centre (NESAC) which had been requested to undertake the task, has expressed its disability to carry out the satellite survey due to unavailability of high resolution Indian satellites.
Advocate General Amit Kumar apprised the court that the Meghalaya Basin Development Authority may be engaged by the State government to take up this task.
The High Court also said that the State government has not yet implemented the recommendation by the Katakey committee for setting up of Smart Integrated Check Gates in Borsora, Bagli and Cherragoan due to the unavailability of a suitable location to establish the Smart Integrated Check Gate.
As per the status report, a suggestion was given that a designated route be identified for transporters to use, failure of which the coal would be seized. “This also is yet to be acted upon by the State government,” the High Court said.
The High Court decided to hear the matter again on December 2 to enable the State government to apprise the court on the exact steps that have been taken on the points as noted.
The court also asked the Advocate General to also inform the court at the next hearing on the demurrage charges that have been levied, and the inventoried coal that is still remaining to be transported.
