Meghalaya government "clueless" about missing 13 lakh metric tonnes of coal
Shillong: The Meghalaya government reportedly has no clue on how 13 lakh metric tonnes of coal vanished from its inventory.
Justice (retired) BP Katakey, in his 18th interim report submitted to the Meghalaya High Court, urged the state government to accelerate the investigation into the case.
The Secretary of the Mining and Geology Department informed the Justice Katakey-led Single Member Committee that the administrative inquiry is still ongoing as the mystery surrounding the missing coal deepens.
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"The state government is advised to hasten the inquiry and hold accountable the officials responsible for the missing inventoried coal from the state government's custody," the Committee stated in its report.
Earlier, the Committee, appointed by the Meghalaya High Court to determine whether the government had taken steps to combat illegal coal mining, had sought the initiation of the process of determining how 13 lakh metric tonnes of coal had disappeared from the state.
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Separately, Justice Katakey noted in his 18th interim report that coke oven and ferroalloy plants lacking the necessary single window clearances from the state government and Consent To Establish and Consent To Operate from the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board are reportedly not operational.
The report states that the Deputy Commissioners of the affected districts have been instructed to conduct regular inspections of such plants and submit regular reports. They were directed to submit a report within ten days.
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Additionally, the report stated that all coke oven plants that had received show-cause notices had responded, with the exception of M/S Meghalaya Coke, for which the Mining and Geology Department has been instructed to take necessary action.
"Further action against 11 of the 17 coke oven plants that have received show cause notices must be taken by the Mining and Geology Department as well as other relevant departments, following a review of their responses," the report said. "All relevant departments have been instructed to complete this process within a fortnight and submit a report. The audit of the coal source for cement companies and thermal power plants, which was due after the Sixth Interim Report submitted to the NGT, has not yet begun," the report said.
The Coal Audit Committee, formed by the state government, has been advised to expedite the process of auditing the coal source for cement companies and thermal power plants by mid-December 2023.
