Shillong, Oct 7 A committee appointed by the Meghalaya High Court has sought a detailed inquiry into the shortage of 13.02 lakh tonnes of inventoried coal and called for fixation of responsibility.
The committee headed by Justice (Rtd) BP Katakey also highlighted that the state government is yet to complete legal action on the disappearance of a substantial quantity of seized illegally-mined coal from depots.
"There is no dispute relating to the shortage of 13,02,456.184 MT coal (32,56,715 MT minus 19,54,258.816 MT), even if the actual physical verification conducted by the Deputy Commissioners accepted," the committee said in its 41st interim report to the court.
The panel also said that a "detailed enquiry" in that regard needs to be conducted for the purpose of fixation of responsibility on the persons responsible for disappearance of inventoried coal, particularly as the Supreme Court had held the state government to be the receiver and custodian of the fuel.
The 13-lakh-tonne quantity would translate into about 52,000 truckloads, assuming a payload of 25 tonnes per truck.
At a deployment rate of 100 trucks a day, transporting that volume would take about 520 days, or nearly one year and five months.
The committee also flagged the issue of illegally mined coal found missing outside Coal India Limited depots.
"Of the 37,449.53 tonnes identified as missing, FIRs had initially been filed for only 4,141.83 tonnes, leaving 33,307.7 tonnes requiring further legal action," it said.
The panel had earlier recommended immediate registration of FIRs for the missing quantity and expeditious completion of investigations.
The state subsequently informed the committee on September 17 that FIRs had been lodged for the entire missing quantity. However, the panel noted that the relevant police station case numbers and the status of investigations had not been furnished.
The report also highlighted that not a single rat-hole coal mine had been closed or fenced till date, despite repeated directions aimed at securing abandoned mine openings.
The state's action plan for closure and fencing was still pending, while a final decision on implementation of the detailed project reports was awaited.
The committee also recorded a fresh alleged illegal mining case at Sakhain village in East Jaintia Hills district. An FIR was registered at Khliehriat police station on September 3 after digging of a fresh coal pit was reported.
The committee, however, noted that the police report did not disclose seizure of the equipment despite its presence being visible in the photographs.
The comprehensive action plan prepared by the Mining and Geology Department for prevention, detection and control of illegal coal mining and transportation, including identification of vulnerable areas and fixation of responsibility on officials concerned, was also awaiting approval of the competent authority.
At the same time, the state has notified a revised procedure for transportation of scientifically mined coal in Meghalaya.
The procedure was notified on September 14 and incorporates measures intended to prevent illegally mined coal from being transported as legally mined coal.
The committee also noted that no compensation had so far been paid to the next of kin of Late Durba Rai, whose body was recovered from an unprotected illegal coal mine pit in East Jaintia Hills earlier this year.
A police case had been registered in connection with the death.
The 41st interim report forms part of the committee's continuing monitoring of compliance with directions of the Meghalaya High Court, the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal concerning illegal and rat-hole coal mining in this hill state.
