Shillong, Oct 13: Pilot projects for closure of coal mines in Meghalaya are under process and clearances are expected soon, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said on Tuesday.
While ruling out possibility of “fencing”, he said, “Let me assure everyone that fencing maybe not, but (for) closure of mines, pilot projects are under process.”
He said the government expects to get clearances for the projects very soon.
“Very soon, we should be able to move forward,” Sangma said.
He was responding to queries on the recent interim report submitted by Justice BP Katakey on coal mining.
The Chief Minister, however, said he is yet to examine the exact report.
“I don’t know about the exact report and it will not be correct for me to reply to that, maybe I will reply next time when I have a better report on it,” he said.
On the issue of fund utilisation, Sangma said the process under the Meghalaya Environment Protection and Restoration Fund (MEPRF) is on, but procedures prescribed by the Centre and the Court have complicated matters.
“The process of utilisation of funds through MEPRF is on but the Government of India and Court have put in certain procedures we have to follow to utilize that. That is obviously making things slightly more complicated for us,” he said.
Asked about the 13 lakh metric tonnes of coal mentioned in the report, he said, “To reply specifically to your question about the 13 lakh metric ton, I will need to get some more data.”
