SHILLONG:
The Division Bench of the High Court of Meghalaya has expressed concern that there is very little effort or intent on the part of the state government to check the menace of overloading of goods vehicles that is perceived to be rampant across the state, even though the matter has dragged on for more than a year.
Hearing a public interest litigation on March 9, the court said that a stricter set of norms needs to be prepared, both for checking and control, if only to stop the plundering of the bountiful of natural resources available and maintain the integrity of the roads, particularly since the roads are exposed to some of the heaviest rain anywhere in the world.
The court said, “The State Transport Secretary will personally look into the matter and devise a scheme to deal with the menace. The Transport Secretary may seek assistance of the Indian Institute of Management, Shillong to prepare a blueprint in such regard.”
The court added, “However, the leave to seek external assistance should not be used as an excuse to indefinitely delay the matter. The Transport Secretary will report on the steps taken when the matter appears next three weeks hence.”
The court stated that several reports and affidavits have been filed on behalf of the state and it has admitted that there are only a limited number of check posts and with the addition of several more by the end of this month, the number of check-points in such regard would only have gone up to 23.
The court also stressed that illegal coal mining continues unabated across the state despite the state’s assurance to adhere to subsisting court and tribunal orders and representations to the contrary.
The court stated, “Orders of the Court disbelieving the State on the basis of material available have cut no ice with the State. Even previous orders indicating that the State appears to be complicit in the illegal mining industries have been quietly digested. Indeed, even if local inhabitants are driven to illegal mining, for want of any other source of livelihood, if the illegal transportation thereof across the State were to be arrested, there would be no demand and, consequently, the illegal mining would come down or stop altogether.”
Turning to limestone quarrying, the court said that there is wanton limestone quarrying, more often than not with the state looking the other way.
“Recent orders of this Court have referred to a mischievous tweak in the rules that allowed incidental mining to be carried out; and, in the name of “incidental” mining, thousands of tonnes of mineral have been disposed of without any licence being obtained or any norms being adhered to,” the Court stated.
The court also noted that there are boulders which are transported out of the state and riverbed mining for sand, and pointed out that local satrap with political connections control such businesses and it suits the state government to not take any measures in such regard.
The court said, “It is a sorry state of affairs that the executive which is tasked with the duty of protecting and preserving the assets of the State is complicit in the wanton plundering thereof.”
The court observed that it will not do to merely have 23 weighbridges across the state, particularly since the state is used as a thoroughfare to reach several other states like Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur and even to the Barak Valley in Assam.
The court stated that several of these roads, including some of the key roads or bypasses that lead to the southern North East States, are in a pitiable state and said that orders have been passed last week pertaining to the Jowai bypass on the highway that passes through the state through Khliehriat towards Silchar.
The court observed that the extent of the damage is primarily due to overloading of vehicles that the state seems to do little about.
The matter is listed on March 31.