Meghalaya CM: Auctioning of coal to start soon

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaOctober 30, 2020

Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma on Friday said the state government will soon start the process of auctioning the already extracted coal lying in the different parts of the state.

“We assure that we shall be able to soon come up with the auctioning at least in certain districts if not all,” Conrad told reporters.

His statement came as a reaction to the recent allegation made by the Leader of Opposition, Mukul Sangma that the government’s modus operandi is to delay the auctioning of the 32 lakh metric tons of coal in the state.

The chief minister said the process of auctioning has been moving after the MDA took over the government.

DC legalizing illegal mined coal in forms of auctioning of unclaimed coal

“We have moved the Supreme Court to ensure that this particular ban (on coal mining) was lifted, a lot of work has gone into it and ultimately Supreme Court has allowed the 32 lakh MT of coal to be auctioned but then in that certain criterias and provisions were put in and we have to follow those procedures and I have mentioned from day one that we are very clear that we will follow the procedures,” he said.

Conrad also pointed out that the reason that there were certain delays in the whole procedure was because the government is following the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT).