The Leader of the Opposition and former Meghalaya chief minister, Mukul Sangma, has alleged an unholy nexus between the Meghalaya government and the coal mafia in the illegal coal mining and transportation.
The former Meghalaya CM said this after his visit to the site of the coal depot in East Garo Hills on Thursday.
Opposition leader Sangma was accompanied by MLA WD Sangma and former MLAs Sengnam Marak and Francis Pondit Sangma.
The site is located at Nengkhra Agalgre, about 17 km from Williamnagar, the district headquarters of East Garo Hills.
The East Garo Hills district authorities auctioned coal in this site of coal dump in January this year.
An amount of over 34,000 MT, as per a DMO report, was supposed to have been auctioned.
According to reports, the coal has not been moved from the site as the Meghalaya High Court directed to stop coal transport until further orders.
The former CM claimed that not more than 5,000 MT of coal was seen at the site and alleged that illegal mining and transportation continue in the state.
Sangma said, “As per our estimates, there is not more than 5,000 MT of coal in the site which indicates transportation of coal.”
He alleged connivance between all parties involved in this illegal coal mining and transportation activities.
Sangma alleged an attempt to avoid paying a royalty.
He said the normal route was Dainadubi in North Garo Hills to Assam but as per the challans, issued to the transporters, the route was Nongstoin-Shillong-Guwahati.
This has been questioned by the former CM.