32 applicants for coal prospecting license

Staff Reporter

Shillong, Sept 22: At present, there are 32 applicants who have submitted their application as per the SOP issued by the Government on March 5, 2021, for the grant of a prospecting license for coal.

Out of these 17 applicants have received approval from the Central government and they are now in the exploration stage for generating a Geological Report before obtaining mining leases, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said in his reply to a starred question tabled in the Assembly on Friday.

Further, 4 out of the 17 approved applicants, after they have submitted their Geological Report, have received prior approval of the Central government for a mining lease in the State and the presentation of the Mining plan is completed and approval of the mining plans is awaited, he said while informing that 15 applicants are yet to obtain prior approval of the Central government for prospecting license.

Meghalaya seeks ‘tweaking’ of stipulations governing coal activities

Staff Reporter

Shillong, Sept 12: The State government has taken up with the Centre for reducing a hundred hectares of land as a minimum requirement for granting prospecting licenses and mining leases in the state.

This was after different miner organizations demanded an immediate review of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for granting prospecting licenses and mining leases for coal mining in the state.

“Based on the different miner organizations appealing that it should be reduced, we have taken up the matter with the Government of India. The process is already on but we have not reached a conclusion yet but it is going on in the right direction,” Sangma told reporters.

He said when the State was fighting in the Supreme Court against the NGT ban on coal mining a discussion also took place with the Government of India (GOI).

“While these negotiations were going on, the area issue came up and the GOI was very particular that the number (100 hectares) should not go down and so we felt that in the larger interest of at least setting the ball rolling and starting the whole thing of mining happening, let us not stick too much to this 100 hectares issue as of now, let it start and once things start then in the next stage we can come and discuss for the reduction of the area because GOI was not at that point of time comfortable at reducing it. (We say) Okay fine but let us at least start with 100 hectares and then later on if necessary, we will try to work to reduce it,” Sangma said adding that in the interest of ensuring that mining started in the state, the government went ahead with the proposal.

Stating that Meghalaya’s case was very unique, Sangma said the State was having so much difficulty in reaching to a conclusion because of the unique land holding system.

“In other areas, the government owns the land, the government owns the mines and then leases it out to a private party but here the private party owns the land and now the government is acting as an agency to lease it out again to another individual to then mine it. So the government now has to change the rules based on Meghalaya’s land-holding system out here and that is where the complication came up. However, now we are in a stage where we have overcome that and that’s what has taken a lot of time but as I said all the hard work put in has given us positive results and I hope even this 100 hectares will be resolved,” he added.

Further, the chief minister informed that the mining plan for starting scientific mining are in the final stage of getting the approval of the Centre.

“I am happy that it has worked and we are now at the final stage of getting the mining plan approved and the mining will start,” he said.

He said the mining plans of four agencies which have already received the NOC concerned from the Centre government are being approved.

“So we expect the mining plan to get a final clearance. I can’t remember the name of the agency whether it is IBM or CMPDI – but one of the technical agencies after ensuring that their lease and all those aspects have already been clear, the final stage of that plan which was to submitted by them is being vetted as we speak and I expect in a matter of weeks or a month or so that we will actually see things happening in the ground,” the CM added.

Govt assures stop to illegal coal transportation

Deputy Chief Minister in charge of Home (Police) Prestone Tynsong assured that the state police will ensure illegal mining and transportation of coal is stopped at any cost.

Tynsong told reporters that one needs to understand that even if the state police are present 24×7, criminal activities still keep on happening.

“We don’t know when the thief is coming to our house so you need to understand that. You know humanly speaking we are trying our best and we will make sure that illegal mining activities stop at any cost,” he said.

On the Meghalaya High Court’s order for the deployment of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to check illegal transportation of coal in Meghalaya, Tynsong however said the state police is equipped enough to handle the situation in the state.

“Let me assure the people of the state that the state police are equipped enough to handle any situation,” he added.

If the government would appeal against the court order, the deputy chief minister however said, “That I can’t say anything right now because in fact a letter has been sent even to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to the concerned organization where ultimately they are not able to provide additional forces.”

On March 20, the Meghalaya High Court asked the CISF to indicate its readiness to check the illegal transportation of coal in Meghalaya.

While hearing a PIL, the Court was informed that the logistics to be prepared for the deployment of 10 companies of CISF would take at least four weeks. It was also informed that CISF will be proceeding on the basis that the deployment would be necessary for at least two to three years before the State augments its human resources to take over the task.

Since the selection of personnel, arrangement of even temporary accommodation and the like may require some time, it is hoped that a disciplined force as the CISF indicates within a fortnight from the date as to how deployment on the ground can be ensured within four weeks from today.

The Court had said that since the State had indicated plans to construct or otherwise provide accommodation for CAPF personnel, the State should cooperate in the process and provide basic accommodation to the CISF personnel, including the commandants of the companies.

It had also directed that CISF should identify or engage one or more persons to be in charge by rotation and said, “Such personnel should obtain an appointment with Justice Katakey and, in the presence of representatives of the State, work out the places and modalities for ultimately deploying the 10 companies.”