Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, who is the amicus curiae in the coal mining cases being heard in the Supreme Court, on Friday submitted that all coal stock from Meghalaya should be transported to Guwahati.
He made the submission in the apex court during a hearing on a petition to lift the ban on coal mining imposed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) since April 2014.
Gonsalves, while making his submissions, focused on the issue of exaggerated coal stock in Meghalaya. In this context, he referred to the K.S. Kropha committee report on the availability of coal in the state post the NGT ban on coal mining, sources said.
The committee, constituted by the NGT in 2014, after an assessment pegged the amount of extracted coal in the state at 65,81,147 metric tonnes. However, the total quantity of coal declared by mine owners initially and the fresh stocks found/declared during inspection in the eight mining districts was 1,36,37,707 metric tonnes, as on August 30, 2014.
Gonsalves opined that the declarations made by coal miners regarding coal stock were “not true”. He submitted that Coal India Limited should take into its custody all coal stock in Meghalaya and transport the same to the depot located in Guwahati.
Sources said Gonsalves’ submissions were vehemently opposed by the other counsels.
The amicus curiae also asserted that the NGT order of January 4, asking the state government to deposit Rs 100 crore with the Central Pollution Control Board was “correctly” imposed. The NGT issued the directive after a committee headed by Justice (retd) Katekey opined that illegal coal mining was continuing in the state despite the ban. The state government has challenged this direction in the apex court.
The hearing will resume on Tuesday, Meghalaya’s advocate-general Amit Kumar said.
Appeal on Assam
Justice (retd) Katakey, who chaired a meeting of the NGT-constituted committee on Friday, said they would request the green tribunal to make the Assam government a party to the coal mining cases in Meghalaya as reports have surfaced that illegal coal was being transported to the state.
“We have been shown some photographs of a truck, bearing Meghalaya registration number, unloading coal in a cement plant in Assam. In such cases, the Assam government has to be involved in checking illegal coal transportation from Meghalaya. A request will be made to the tribunal to pass appropriate orders to make the Assam government a party to the cases,” he said, adding that in such a case, the Assam government can ask the cement factory to provide details of its coal requirement and procurement.
There are reports that coal is being illegally transported to Guwahati and Cachar, mostly at night to avoid interception.
The Katakey committee also asked the Meghalaya director-general of police to draw up an action plan to stop illegal transportation of coal. The police chief will have to submit the plan within a week.
The committee, which favours checking of every truck plying through Meghalaya, has set a three-month deadline for installation of closed-circuit television cameras at check points. The footage would be preserved for at least a year.
It also decided that two afforestation projects would be undertaken on a pilot basis in East Jaiñtia Hills, which has several coal mines, as a part of environment restoration plan in areas adversely affected by coal mining.
The committee will next meet here on June 3.
