The Justice Katakey committee, in its 28th interim report, has said that the State government needs to take immediate steps to auction and transport inventoried coal.
Almost six years have elapsed from the date of passing of the order on July 3, 2019 by the Supreme Court directing disposal of the inventoried coal.
“Hence the state government is required to take all possible urgent steps so that the entire re-assessed/reverified inventoried coal could be sold out in auction and transported, as per the direction of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, at the earliest,” the committee said.
Recommending the state to shift the 1,92,840.13 MT illegally mined coal to a centralised depot the committee said this is necessary to ensure no further degradation of the environment as well as for the purpose of avoiding pilferage and further loss of quantity of coal which may subsequently lead to the legal complications.
It is also of the view that necessary steps for disposal of the coal seized under the provision of MMDR Act, 1957 need to be taken urgently.
Meanwhile, the committee has also recommended the government to take immediate action under the MMDR Act, 1957 and also to take immediate appropriate steps for seizure and disposal of the illegally mined coal, found during the aerial survey.
The Katakey Committee has also directed the Meghalaya Development Basin Development Authority (MBDA) to interpret the UAV survey maps prepared by it in respect of the coal dumps found in Thateja, Pormawdar, Diengngan, Mawhar, Tinpul and Rajaju villages in South West Khasi Hills District and if necessary to take the help of the NESAC and submit a report within 15 days.
The committee has also recommended strict compliance of the requirements of Revised Comprehensive Plan, 2022 in all respects, including issuance of Mining Transport Challans (MTC) as per Clause 10(c).
It also recommended for effective and meaningful conduct of drone surveillance in all the districts of state of Meghalaya for the purpose of effectively checking the illegal coal mining activities.
“…as there are difficult terrains and certain areas where illegal coal mining activities generally occur are not easily accessible, for which use of drones for such surveillance needs to be maximized,” the committee stated.
The committee also recommended conduct of supervision of the team constituted by the Superintendents of Police of different districts for drone surveillance and regular patrolling in all the vulnerable areas by the police, by an officer not below the rank of the Inspector General of Police, so as to implement the recommendations made by the Committee in the 27th Interim Report.
It also recommended monitoring the entire process of drone surveillance and police patrolling, from time to time, by the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police.
The committee recommended immediate amendments to the Revised Comprehensive Plan, 2022. These amendments would establish a maximum time limit for extending the deadline to deposit the full bid amount and lift auction-purchased coal, it said.
Additionally, the amendments would outline the forfeiture of deposited bid amounts if the full payment isn’t made within the specified timeframe and procedures for re-auctioning the coal in such cases.
These proposed changes would then be presented to the Oversight Committee constituted by the NGT.
The Committee also recommended for immediate compliance of the High Court order in PIL No. 2/2022, by issuing necessary notification in that respect.
As per the High Court order, a clause may be inserted in future auction notices, mandating therein that if full payment is not made in 120 days, or if the entire coal is not lifted within 120 days of full payment, the bid would be cancelled with forfeiture of EMD, and the coal to be put for re-auction.
The committee also directed the state government to clarify as to how 16,38,592.18 MT coal could be put to auction conducted up to September 24, 2024 as against 14,10,864.49 MT of inventoried coal found to be available on re-assessment/re-verification.
It also recommended taking appropriate and urgent steps by issuing necessary notification notifying the mode and manner of transportation of legally mined coal.
According to the committee this is because the possibilities of illegal mining have increased with the start of legal coal mining as unscrupulous people involved in illegal coal mining activities will definitely try to pass on the illegally mined coal as legally mined.
The committee however stated that it is not making any recommendation for any further aerial survey to find out the availability of any further illegally mined coal in the districts of the State of Meghalaya, as a substantial amount has already been spent for conducting the aerial survey.
It did not rule out the possibility of availability of further illegally mined coal due to the reason that in the aerial survey conducted over 6.25 per cent of the total geographic area of four districts 1,92,840.13 MT illegally mined coal is found.
“If any further illegally mined coal is available, the authorized officers have all the powers and authorities to take appropriate steps in respect of such illegally mined coal under the provisions of MMDR Act, 1957 as well as transportation of the same by any unscrupulous coal miners or by their agents by effectively conducting drone surveillance and police patrolling,” the Katakey Committee stated.
It also pointed out that shortage of manpower and difficult terrain having difficulty in accessibility cannot be the ground in not discharging the duties cast on the state to stop illegal activities and in not complying the directives issued by the courts from time to time.
Noting that while difficult terrain may hinder anti-illegal mining efforts in remote areas, the committee said it doesn’t justify allowing illegal mining and transportation of coal in more accessible areas.
According to it, stopping illegal activities in accessible areas and preventing transportation of coal from inaccessible areas is crucial to curb illicit gains.
