The Deputy Commissioner of East Jaintia Hills has issued prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC in order to protect a famous cave and weak roads and bridges.
In an order dated December 5 but only shared with the media today, Abhilash Bharanwal said that an inspection has revealed circumstantial evidence that illegal coal mining was being conducted in the area around the Krem Liat-Prah, a cave falling under Shnongrim village. The inspection was carried out after reports in the local media that mining was putting the cave at risk.
The DC thus banned mining of any minor or major mineral in the immediate area around the cave and said that any use of explosives needs to be cleared by the DC’s office.
Then, on December 9, Bharanwal issued two prohibitory orders to protect the Lasakein and Borghat-Sonapur roads.
In the case of the former, a single-lane road, the DC said that overloaded vehicles have damaged its surface as the road is not capable of bearing heavy loads. Heavily loaded vehicles are now banned from the road and heavily loaded vehicles with trailers above the maximum weight limit are also prohibited.
Meanwhile, Bharanwal also said that the temporary Bailey bridge on the Borghat-Sonapur road can only carry 9 tonnes and, therefore, vehicles in excess of this weight are banned from using the road until the concrete bridge, which was washed away last summer, is replaced.
