Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Sep. 6: Minister for Soil and Water Conservation, and Geology and Mining, Kashiho Sangtam has urged all the north-eastern states’ Geology and Mining department to work together, rather than in isolation, to achieve a common target.
He was addressing the 39th State Geological Programming Board Meeting at the DGM conference hall in Dimapur on Friday.
According to Sangtam, advancement in exploration technology as well as in geological knowledge has resulted in a pressing demand nation-wide to accelerate mineral exploration.
“The department has identified significant important mineral resources to uplift the economic growth of the state. The challenge lies in the fact that most of the resources discovered still lie untouched,” the minister said.
He said that the vision for economic sustainability of the state through development of its mineral resources would require the collective and sincere will of the government, policymakers, geoscientists and technocrats to turn it into reality.
Sangtam further added that the state government has to take up its role as stated in the ‘National Mineral Policy 2019’ towards facilitating and regulating exploration and mining activities, making provisions for development of infrastructure and tax collection in order to increase the development of its mineral sector.
“While growth and development are positive impacts of urbanisation, there are factors which raise concerns about the negative impacts, as in the depletion of ground water resources and the life of people at risk living in a disaster-prone area,” he said.
Acknowledging the surge of urbanisation in the recent years, Sangtam stressed on the need to formulate judicious policies and framework, and its implementation in order to deal with the impending challenges posed by rapid urbanisation on earth’s resources.
Lalhmachhuana, Mizoram’s director of Geology and Mineral Resources, gave a presentation on minor mineral development.
