Hundreds of coal mine owners, labourers and those affected by bar on rat hole coal mining and transportation in Meghalaya by National Green Tribunal (NGT) today took to streets to protest against the ban.
The protesters took out silent procession two days ahead of the NGT hearing here scheduled on August first and demanded immediate lifting of the ban.
They carried black flags and placards reading 'Is aquatic life in rivers more precious than human lives for the NGT' and 'We demand our rights to life.'
Organiser of the march, "Movement for Indigenous People's Rights and Livelihood - Meghalaya" (MIPRLM), said it would draw the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the matter.
MIPRLM vice-chairman Erwin K Sutnga said the livelihood of lakhs of people have been taken away by the NGT order and the organisation would soon meet the prime minister seeking withdrawal of the NGT's jurisdiction from Meghalaya.
"We urge the Centre and state government to work together to bring relief to the people who have been severely affected by the ban. We will also meet Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and inform him of the huge loss of revenue by the state government due to the ban," he said.
The NGT Act was passed in 2010 without taking the Meghalaya government and the autonomous district councils into consideration, he added.
An expert committee headed by senior officials of the state pollution control board, ministry of forest and environment and the mining and geology department of the state had completed their assessment of the amount of extracted coal.
Official sources said the total quantified amount of coal is about nine million metric tonne left in open quarries and depots in the state.
