Shillong, Aug 25: The state government does not facilitate any illegal coal mining, according to chief minister Conrad Sangma.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the chief minister said there is no question of facilitating illegal coal mining by the government.
Conrad criticised the Leader of Opposition Mukul Sangma for accusing the National People’s Party-led MDA government and reminded him of his failure to take any action against illegal coal mining during his 8-year tenure as chief minister of the state.
“There is no question of any facilitation. In fact, it was during the opposition’s time that no action was taken on any of these illegal activities,” he said.
“It was only when the NPP-led MDA government took over that we started imposing the MMDR Act, made it more stringent for anybody involved in these kinds of activities,” he added.
He said several cases were filed and actions taken against hundreds of people. “Lots of people have been arrested also. So one cannot simply point a finger. I think the opposition has to realise what are the things they did not do during their time before pointing their fingers,” he said.
Death of coal miner
Regarding the death of a coal labourer and injury to another after they were trapped inside an illegal coal mine in West Khasi Hills district, Chief Minister said the owner of the mine has been arrested. “The system is there to catch anybody if there are any illegal activities that are going on and those actions will be taken… the law is there to take action and punish the people who are guilty,” he added.
He admitted that there are limitations due to inaccessibility of the areas leading to mines.
“Therefore, for the administration and officials to reach these locations it’s physically next to impossible, one has to understand those areas,” the chief minister said.
