Several spots in villages on the slopes of the Shella area have started sinking and cracking recently, but the cry of the people have gone unheeded, according to locals.
The heavy monsoon rains added to the continuous blasting from the Lafarge Umiam Mining Private Limited (LUMPL) is taking a toll on the surrounding hills and the habitats, it is said.
The worst scenario with the record heavy downpour of the monsoon rains could be that the slope on which are located the villages of Mawryngkhong, Laikher and others could suddenly slip down.
Cracks on the lands and broken walls, sinking areas have cropped up in the villages, it is learnt. Not only that huge rocks are poised dangerously high above which could come crashing down any time, it is said.
Unless the administration takes up measures, people will continue to live in fear and insecurity.
Sources told Highland Post that as it is the Shella slopes, which were the hardest hit by the record earthquake of 1897 is already highly unstable. In fact a village located above the two named villages disappeared in the quake.
In fact, a few years earlier, complaints from the locals forced the state government to ask the Geological Survey of India to do a survey of the area.
Meanwhile, there is much ire against the management of the LUMPL and locals said it has failed to recognize the precarious condition of these villages and the other villages surrounding the area.
It is learnt that the frequency of the blasts from their mines has multiplied manifold recently after the mining company received permission to raise the volume of their mining from 2 million tons per year to 5 million tons per year.
This is bound to have a major impact on the already fragile slopes and the villages, they said.
Shella area is only about 10 kms radius from the Lafarge mines but so far no surveyors from the mines have come to the area to find out the well-being of the people, they said.
It was pointed out that as per the Supreme Court ruling of 2011 all the villages within 50 kms from the mines should be compensated and taken care of by the company.
