BJP leaders behind illegal coal mining in Assam: AJP
The Hindu
The Assam Jatiya Parishad said rat-hole mining is being carried out under the noses of police, forest and local administrative officials despite an NGT ban from 2014
GUWAHATI
Some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders are behind illegal coal mining in Assam, a State-based political party has alleged in a set of memorandums on February 16.
The Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) submitted a petition each to the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the National Human Rights Commission and the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi and general secretary Jagadish Bhuyan said illegal rat-hole coal mining has continued in Assam besides Meghalaya and other north-eastern States with the alleged patronage of the BJP leaders and in collusion with officials despite a blanket ban on such type of mining by the NGT in 2014.
Rat-hole mining involves the digging of very small tunnels, usually only 3-4 feet high, which workers enter and extract coal from.
In the memorandum, the AJP leaders said the coal mined and transported illegally in Assam is worth about ₹2,000 crore per month. While this is causing large-scale damage to the environment, a bigger issue has been tax evasion, they pointed out.
“In 2014, the NGT banned the rat-hole mining method. But unfortunately, it is continuing unabated in the Tinsukia and Karbi Anglong districts of Assam,” they alleged.
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