TUR condemns govt role in illegal mining
Organisation urges citizens to speak up against criminality, democratic institutions to act with integrity and urgency
Shillong, Feb 6: The Thma U Rangli-Juki (TUR) has condemned the state government’s long-standing role in enabling illegal coal mining in blatant disregard of constitutional mandates, statutory laws and judicial directives.
In a media statement on Friday, TUR said that for decades, a culture of impunity has prevailed, openly defying orders of the National Green Tribunal and other courts, resulting in a serious breakdown of law and governance in districts where rampant coal mining continues.
The condemnation comes in the wake of the mine blasts in East Jaintia Hills on Thursday that killed 18 workers and injured several.
The High Court of Meghalaya has ordered the immediate arrest of the mine owners.
“The government continues to misrepresent the reality of illegal mining and coal transportation. Its response has been limited to rhetoric and token compensations whenever large-scale accidents occur, tragedies too grave to conceal or ignore, while failing to address the systemic failures that allow such disasters to repeat,” it said.
Illegal coal mining has claimed the lives of miners and devastated communities whose agricultural and alternative livelihoods have been destroyed. It has severely damaged water bodies and polluted rivers, leaving many low-income families in mining areas without access to safe drinking water.
“We call upon the citizens of Meghalaya to rise and speak up against this criminal capture of our polity, a system with blood on its hands, exposed yet again by the tragedy in Thangskoo and the many before it,” it added.
TUR also urged democratic institutions to act with integrity and urgency to uphold the rule of law, protect fundamental rights, and ensure that this tragedy marked the end of illegal coal mining.
