Shillong, Mar 10: The state government has been persuading the Centre to declare “traditional mining” as non-mining activities, chief minister Conrad K Sangma told the assembly on Monday.
“We are working to get clearance from the Centre to allow us to declare traditional mining as non-mining activities,” Sangma said.
He was replying to a question raised by VPP legislator from Mawryngkneng Heavingstone Kharpran on the status of mining and sand quarrying.
The chief minister admitted that small-time miners undertake traditional mining mainly for local use at village level or small construction work.
The government has also constituted a committee to review the Meghalaya Minor Mineral Concession Rules (MMMCR), 2016 following concerns raised over small-time miners engaged in “traditional mining”, he said.
The committee, formed on 16 September 2024, comprises MLAs, officials from Mining & Geology and Forest departments besides different stakeholders particularly the miners.
Two meetings of the committee held so far have recommended that procedures for issuing permit for traditional mining should be made simple.
The committee recommended that only a forest clearance – to ensure it is not a forest land – and a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the headman to certify that the land is not disputed.
Citing a provision to apply for exemption from Environment Protection Act 1986, Sangma said the state government is in the process of moving a concurrence from government of India to waive the necessity of clearances as “these quarries are very small”.
“We are working very hard on this as many of our small-time miners are facing difficult times as the provisions are difficult sometimes for the miners to comply with,” he said.
Earlier, the chief minister said stone mining and sand quarrying are strictly regulated under Meghalaya Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2016.
Sand quarrying is regulated additionally under Sustainable Sand Mining Management Guidelines, 2016 and Enforcement & Monitoring Guidelines for Sand Mining, 2020 as notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change.
