A three-member committee of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Tuesday said it has found freshly dug coal in Meghalayas East Jaintia Hills district where mining and transportation has been banned by the tribunal.
The NGT in 2014 had imposed a blanket ban on mining and transportation of coal for its adverse environmental effect and the absence of safety measures for the miners.
"We found certain freshly mined coal there, certainly not the ones that are mined way back in 2014. We also found stacks of coal in one location in Sutnga area in East Jaintia Hills," committee chairman Justice (Retd) B P Katakey told PTI.
He said, "We went to Khliehriat area because there was an allegation in the National Green Tribunal. Also that though mining has been stopped since 2014, it still going on."
Agnes is now battling for life at the super speciality North East Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences near here