Shillong, Nov 5: Opposition leader and former Chief Minister, Dr. Mukul Sangma, has expressed concern over the National People’s Party (NPP) led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government handling of the allegations of illegalities in coal transportation and mining.
What irked Dr. Sangma is the prompt denial made by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma that the government was following the guidelines given by the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to transport the 32 lakh metric ton of coal.
“There should not be prompt denial. It only indicates that there is a reason to believe that they are not willing to tell the truth or rather trying to hide the truth,†the former Chief Minister said.
On the issue of the unclaimed coal, Dr. Sangma said that the land where the coal is dumped belong to “somebodyâ€.
“They know who are the owners,…have you tried to find out, have you interrogated the land owners. (It means) meaning that there is no effort as we can see from the government to find out if there are really any illegalities going on or not. That is the biggest question and that is what we have found out. The moment an investigation is done and the moment the landowners in whose land the consignments are being dumped once they are interrogated they will be telling who the owner are and where the coal is coming from,†Dr. Sangma said.
Dr. Sangma also countered claims made by the government for saying that the government was following legal procedures in auctioning the 32 lakh metric ton of coal.
He also refuted claims made by the Chief Minister that the opposition Congress was confused on the coal issue.
“The Chief Minister is saying that the opposition is confused, but it is not confused, Dr. Mukul Sangma is not confused at all,†the leader of opposition said.
He said that the opposition wanted the government to proceed ahead with the auctioning of the 32 lakh metric ton of mined coal as claimed by the State government before the Supreme Court.
“Why did I say that you proceed ahead with the auctioning of the 32 lakh metric ton, as per the order of the Supreme Court, because if it is not there you will know and if it is there then also you would know,†Sangma emphasised.
He also said that if the government was doing auctioning in the 32 lakh metric ton of coal in “piece meal†it would take many years to complete the process.