Shillong Jan 6: Leader of Opposition in Meghalaya Assembly, Dr Mukul Sangma alleged that the present MDA government has been firing from the shoulders of officers to allow illegalities to happen which led to illegal coal mining taking place in the last few months because of “extreme greed of the people in power.”

Dr Sangma told reporters after a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) that the CLP discussed the prevailing situation in the state and issues which have drawn the attention of the nation and the world.

“The recent development pertaining to illegal mining and subsequent trapping of coal mine labourers has drawn the attention of the nation and the global community. These developments have shamed the state and the nation,” he said.

He also talked about another development vis-à-vis an order of the NGT wherein a penalty of Rs 100 crore had been slapped on the state government due to ongoing coal mining despite the ban being imposed by the tribunal.

“These whole developments are something which are not acceptable to the people of the state. Meghalaya cannot be known for such unpleasant things happening on the ground. This is an outcome of extreme greed of the people in power, and we are saddened by this development. The name and fame that the people of the state have collectively built over the years have gone down the drain and it will be difficult to rebuild it. Somebody say we politicize, but politicians are there to protect the interest of the people, the state and the nation. In as far as this development is concerned, this is completely against the interest of the state and the people,” he said.

He also said that the opposition Congress had tried to draw the attention of the government on what was happening across the state and pertaining to the misuse of government machineries.

“When we talked about misuse of government machineries, the government of the day has been firing from the shoulders of the officers to allow illegalities to happen and this is precisely why illegal mining of this magnitude have happened in the last few months,” he said.

Dr Snagma also said that a documentary related to imparting education to children through an evening school in coal mining areas of Jaiñtia Hills showed that the children have also stopped coming to school because coal mining have started.

“How has the coal mining started? Coal mining has started because people in those remote areas do not know, and they might have thought that the BJP and NPP must have opened up coal mining within six months. They (NDA) have had their rhetoric of opening coal mining within six months and what they meant was to open illegal coal mining which can be interpreted from what we see now,” he said.

Commenting on the Rs 100-crore penalty imposed by the NGT, he said, “I am afraid that the state is going to pay a heavy price because of the greed of these people.”