DIPR
DIMAPUR, NOVEMBER 12
A joint team comprising the district administration, NGOs and the departments of Geology & Mining and Forest visited the Mining areas of Naginimora and Tiru on November 11. The team also held meetings with the contractors, Miners, village councils and the general public to ensure that mining is done legally in a systematic way under the supervision of the department concerned.
Deputy commissioner of Mon Angau I. Thou said the purpose of the joint inspection is not to find false but to encourage mining legally and in a systematic way for sustainable social economic development and at the same time to protect lives and environment without hazardous to health. Mining legally under the department concern would benefit the people, earn revenue to the Government and adopt refilling and re-plantation in the mining area without hazardous to health and environment, she added. She appealed the Geology & Mining and the Forest department to check and stop illegal mining with immediate effect and take measures to refill the areas and adopt plantation under Green seeds policy of the Forest department. She also urged the department concerned to give awareness to the people, to create stock yard within Naginimora and Tizit, to have weight bridge and proper collection of government revenue.
She also called upon the miners and the villagers to make opportunity of coal mining for the betterment of the future generation. It is a wealth of Mon district and an important source of development which would boost social economic development of the people, she added. She also appealed to the contractors to stop mining near the road and thanked them for maintaining the roads near the mining areas.
President of KU Manlip informed that visit of joint verification team is to give awareness regarding illegal mining and its consequences for the future generation of the people. He informed that the joint team has great concern for the miners, the landowners, the villagers and their land, and the purpose of the visit is to stop illegal mining and protect their land from becoming a barren land in the future.
He appealed to the department concerns, the administration, the KU unit, the contractors and the village council to actively discharge their respective roles and responsibility to ensure that mining is done legally to protect the lives and environment. He further appealed to the village council to refrain from issuing of NOC blindly and urged them to make an agreement with the contractors to refill and re-plant the mining area.
General Secretary of KU, Hosea, reiterated the resolution adopted by the Union and its constitution. He informed that as per the Article 30 of the Constitution, the Konyak Union shall strive and enforced to protect the land and its resources and its integrity. He blamed the concern department for encouraging illegal mining by imposing a double fund to the miners.
Former president of KU Hoka, president of NPF Mon Tingthok, and former MTC chairman Wanglong also spoke and exhorted the people to stop illegal mining. The Contractor Coal Mining Union leaders also spoke and shared their views and problems.
The village councils and the landowners of Tiru also spoke and share their views. They appealed to the administration and the Konyak Union to deploy police outpost in Tiru to maintain law and order in the area.
