Shillong, May 27: The state government on Friday directed the departments concerned to comply with the directions issued by the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) with regards to the coal issue in the state.

“We have taken note of the issues that have been raised and the departments have been asked to ensure that everything that has been mentioned in that, speedy action should be taken in regards to that and compliance should be done at the earliest,” Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma told reporters.

He was reacting to a preliminary report submitted by Justice (Retd) BP Katakey before the Meghalaya High Court, which had revealed the failure of the state authorities to comply with the directions issued by the Supreme Court and the NGT.

Sangma, however, claimed that there are many aspects which have been complied by the state government adding “and some we are working on it. Things like setting up different technology aspects… so all of them are in the process.”

The preliminary findings in the 41 pages report dated May 23, 2022, had indicated that except for notifying The Meghalaya Minerals (Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation and Storage) Rules, 2022 as recently as March 24, 2022, “none of the directions issued by the Supreme Court … and the NGT have been complied with by the concerned authorities…”

The authorities that have been specifically mentioned include the State of Meghalaya, the State and Central Pollution Control Boards, the North Eastern Space Application Centre and the Integrated Regional Office of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.