SHILLONG, SEPT 21: Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma informed the assembly on Monday that a solution to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ban on coal mining in the state is almost on the anvil with the draft mining policy in the final stages.
Sangma also said that the Meghalaya government has taken up with the central government to invoke Paragraph 12A (b) of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution so that application of central laws in the state relating to mining may be rescinded through a presidential notification.
Replying to a calling attention motion moved by Hill State People’s Democratic Party legislator Witting Mawsor, Sangma said that invoking paragraph 12A (b) of the Sixth Schedule will enable the state government to regulate mining activities in accordance with Meghalaya Mines and Minerals Policy, 2012.
After the NGT interim ban on coal mining in Meghalaya Sangma raised the issue with the then Congress Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and subsequently with Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Coal mining in Meghalaya is part of the “customary tribal rights” as land in the state belongs to the tribal.
Sangma said on the floor of the assembly that the state government has made out a special case to exempt the sixth schedule areas in Meghalaya from the purview of central mining laws for which Paragraph 12A (b) of the Sixth Schedule has been underscored so that application of central laws in the state related to mining may be rescinded through a presidential notification.
Sangma also informed that in compliance with the NGT directions, the state government is in touch with line departments of the central government namely the coal ministry and Environment and Forest ministries.
Sangma also said efforts are being made by the state government to meet the timeline for submission of the draft mining plan addressing the concerns of scientific mining requirement of statutory laws before the NGT. He informed that latest communication from the tribunal is that the mining plan must be submitted by September 29 next.
Sangma informed that the state government will modify the proposed resolution to be taken up by the assembly during the current autumn session, vis-à-vis Paragraph 12A (b) of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution.
Informing the house that Coal Mines (Nationalization) Act, 1973 applies to the entire country, Sangma,however, assured that the state government is working towards restoring the traditional rights of the people over the mines. He concluded by stating, “The Coal Mines Nationalization Act, 1973, has already taken away the rights of people over ownership of coal mines and supersede all other laws.”- By Our Reporter
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