The back-and-forth over a case of quarrying in the Chokpot area of South Garo Hills has now seen the Nokma of the affected area, Budugre, denying that any no-objection certificate (NOC) was ever issued for the purpose.
On March 14, the Budugre Village Environment Protection Committee and Chokpot Area Vigilance Committee said that illegal quarrying of stones at Chokpot near the Dareng River has been going on unabated.
Though the Nokma of the area did not grant any permit or no-objection certificate (NOC) for the quarrying, the activity has carried on regardless, the committees said in a press release.
The people of Budugre and adjoining villages are stridently opposed to quarrying because the site lies next to the Dareng, which is a source of drinking water for the residents of nearly 30 villages downstream and the people depend on it for other purposes as well.
However, a few days later, the quarry owner, Alpha D Marak, claimed that he not only had an NOC from the Nokma but that the majority of the villagers were onboard with the project, which has also received a mining lease under the Meghalaya Minor Mineral Concession Rules 2016.
Today, the Nokma countered this by saying that Marak had, perhaps, obtained a forged NOC because no genuine one has ever been issued for the purpose of quarrying.
