Shillong, Aug 26: The Elaka Narpuh Youth Federation (ENYF) has opposed the proposed public hearing of M/S Meghalaya Cement Ltd (Topcem Cement Company) for the environmental clearance of the Mooiong Thlusniang Limestone Mine, covering approximately 26.50 hectares.
The public hearing is scheduled for September 5 at Chiehruphi under Elaka Narpuh in East Jaintia Hills.
In a media statement, the federation said it has several reasons to oppose the hearing, the most important of which is that there are no employment opportunities for locals.
“The company has failed to provide sustainable and meaningful employment to the youth of Elaka Narpuh despite years of mining operations in the region. Instead, opportunities are given to outsiders,” the statement mentioned.
Even as a few locals managed to secure employment in the company, their wages are “significantly lower” than what the non-tribal employees are getting.
ENYF also alleged that the district mineral foundation fund is being misused, leaving those affected by the mining without benefits. Besides, residents of the Elaka “have been systematically deprived of social, economic, or infrastructural development from these mining activities”.
In addition to developmental concerns, the federation has flagged environmental issues stemming from the mining activity.
First, the proposed limestone mine will further contribute to global warming, climate change and ecological imbalance in the region, which is already facing increasing environmental pressures due to unregulated mining activities.
Second, Elaka Narpuh has been reduced to a dumping site for soil and other mining waste, causing environmental degradation without any compensatory measures.
“If allowed to continue, the proposed mine will worsen environmental degradation, fuel global warming and intensify climate change in our region, thereby, endangering the health, livelihood and future of our people and generations to come,” the federation said in its statement, adding that all citizens of the region must unite against destructive mining.
