Shillong, May 3: The four coal miners, who recently obtained Government of India’s approval for their mining lease for scientific mining in the state, felicitated Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Wednesday at Nongstoin.
Speaking to reporters after the program, Chief Minister said the start of coal mining is a historic moment for the state and the people dependent on the coal sector for their livelihoods after the coal ban was in place for almost a decade.
“It is indeed a very historic moment because for almost a decade the people of the State especially the miners and people who are dependent on the mining sectors especially coal have really suffered in the past many years. Not only the people, but the government have lost a lot in terms of revenue and royalty,” stated Conrad.
The project proponents conducted a program today in Nongstoin to thank the Govt. of Meghalaya for the support in the last 5 years that has resulted in the lift on the ban on coal mining for almost 10 years & to start the process of scientific, safe & sustainable mining.
— Conrad K Sangma (@SangmaConrad) May 3, 2023
He added that with the granting of mining lease from the Ministry of Coal, Government of India, all these are about to change.
The 4 miners have received the mining lease following which they will apply for state clearances along with public consultation after which the process of scientific mining can be initiated, explained the CM. He added that in the future other miners will have to follow the same procedures so as to obtain their ‘legal’ or ‘scientific’ mining.
Lauding the Government of India, Conrad thanked the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister for the Ministry of Coal, Pralhad Joshi for being an instrumental support in ensuring coal mining starts in Meghalaya in a scientific and safe manner.
