Shillong, Jan 4: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Meghalaya government to deposit Rs 100 crore into the account of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to be utilized for the restoration of environment in the state.

Earlier, a total of Rs 425 crore has already been collected.

The NGT passed this directive on Friday based on the first interim report submitted by its Judicial Committee on January 2.

The Committee, which was constituted by the NGT on August 31, 2018, had had recorded the statement of various functionaries of the state government including DC and SP and it was of the view that illegal extraction of coal was going on despite the ban imposed by the tribunal.

Since April 17, 2014, the NGT has banned unscientific mining of coal using small horizontal holes along the coal seams and often known as “rat-holes”.