MEGHALAYA GOVT MISREPRESENTS BEFORE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL

The Meghalaya Government has misrepresented before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) about coal mining ban in South Garo Hills and it took the lives of four people to expose the lie.

During a hearing of the Tribunal here on January 24, the State Government has said before the Tribunal that coal mining has been banned in South Garo Hills, through an order of the Deputy Commissioner, and the ban was in force - but that wasn’t the truth.

In fact, coal mining ban in South Garo Hills was revoked on October 25 last year  by the District Administration and mining was on when the Tribunal had its sitting here.

After the January 24 hearing the Tribunal read in its order: “It was also pointed out that as per order dated 20.5.2013, the District Magistrate passed an order under section 133 of the Code of Criminal Procedure directing that coal mines in the whole of South Garo Hills District, should be stopped with immediate effect, until further orders and the order is in force even today.”

The Tribunal held its sitting here to seek answers from the State Government on the fate of 15 coal miners reported missing in the coal mine tragedy in South Garo Hills in 2011. The Tribunal has ordered the State Government to take efforts to find out about the fate of these miners or at least retrieve their bodies or contact their families.

It was true that coal mining was banned under section 133 IPC (public nuisance) in May 2013, but that was largely because of the Monsoon, when mining becomes even more hazardous in the dangerous rat-hole coal mines.

But the South Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner, Chinmay P Gotmare revoked the order on a request from the Joint Action Committee, Nangalbibra – a consortium of local coal miners.

The local coal miners gave a written assurance to the Deputy Commissioner that they would look after the interest and safety of the miners. In the letter the miners claimed that their livelihood was at stake due to closure of the mines. Based on that assurance the mining ban was lifted.

But tragedy struck again  and in early February this year, four miners - Ratna Barman, Debokantho Barman, Bishwanath Barman and Piterson Marak - lost their lives after the walls of the mine in Garegittim, South Garo Hills caved in. The coal mine owner at first fled, but was arrested and is now out on bail.

“We have arrested the coal owner, but he is now out on bail,” South Garo Hills, Superintendent of Police, D R Marak said.

On the overall coal mining scenario in the State, the State Government also presented before the Tribunal the copy of the Meghalaya Mines and Minerals Policy 2012, which came into force on November 5, 2012.

Although rat-hole mining has not been banned, the Government has said that there must be an entry as well as an exit point, which means that there must be two openings in the mine.

The rat-hole mines traditionally have one entry point and the event of wall collapse the miners face a near death situation. However, it is uncertain that even this minor provision of having an entry and exit point is being implemented and that holds true for the recent death of the four miners.

Many miners have lost their lives in the rat-hole coal mines of the State over the years. The highest number of tragedy in a single case was the 2011 mishap in South Garo Hills for which the NGT took up a suo moto case.

 

Meanwhile, the district of South Garo Hills remains problematic from the administration point of view. It is one of the most backward districts of the country.

Militant groups and anti-social elements and vested interest groups have sprung up and are active in this district for years now especially in the mining areas where a reign of killing, extortion and kidnapping has been unleashed.

One of the factors for this violence is poor security cover and remoteness of the district. There are just four police stations in the district having an area of 1187 square kilometre along the porous Indo-Bangla border.

PROSPECTIVE LAWMAKERS TAKE PLEDGE NOT TO DEFECT FROM PARTY

One of the challenges of smaller political parties in India is to keep its members together after being elected to a Constitutional body and if there is no anti-defection law than this challenge transforms into a nightmare.

So a regional political party in Meghalaya,

an Indian State in the northeast, came up with a unique way to keep its members together and not jump fences once elected. The members of the political party were administered an pledge at a public forum to stay within the party and not defect after being elected in the upcoming district council elections.

It was a first of its kind  pledge that the Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Party (KHNAM) administered to about ten of its members who have filed their nominations for the February 24 District Council polls. The event was kept public at the State Central Library and the media was invited.

The prospective candidates first paid their respect to the freedom fighters, laid wreath and sought their blessings for the upcoming elections. Then the candidates were administered their pledge by the party president, Pyndapborthiaw Saiborne.

It was pledge that KHNAM members once elected would continue to work for the welfare of the indigenous tribal population and stay united in the party. In the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council, despite being a Constitutional body, the anti-defection law is not applicable.

Saiborne said because the law is not applicable, members of the council has defected from one political party to another on several occasions. He believes that the one-of-its-kind pledge would compel the members to think twice now before trying to defect.

But skeptics argue that oaths and pledges are just symbolic gestures and hold no meaning for many of the country’s lawmakers, including the members of the district councils. They say, despite vowing to work for the people some indulge in rampant corruption and do just the opposite to what they have pledged.

But a senior local journalist covering district council affairs say that though such a pledge taking event was unheard of, it would have some impact. “The district council elections and affairs are slightly different from those of the Assembly and Lok Sabha. The people would definitely ridicule those who change their parties after being elected and that might discourage defection to an extent,” the journalist was of the view.

BEHIND EVERY MAN HOME GUARD IS A WOMAN

Behind every successful Meghalaya male Home Guard is a woman and the chief of Home Guard today promised that woman helping men from the hearth would be felicitated from next year for their “tremendous contribution” to the force.

Altogether 41 Home Guards and officials were today felicitated for their contribution towards the force on occasion of its Raising Day at its headquarters at Mawdia


ngdiang situated some 10 kilometers away from the state capital.

Director General of Home Guards, WR Marbaniang dwelt extensively on the role played by women in the households, although their contribution is rarely acknowledged in public.

“The contribution of these women who help their sons, husbands, and brothers from home is immense. From next year we would also felicitate these brave women who work silently and tirelessly,” Marbanaing said after handing away the medals and certificates.

He said it would be impossible for anyone to perform to a desired level if work was not appropriately balanced at the personal and professional front. “We haven’t planned how to felicitate such homemakers, but we would definitely find some ways to honour them,” the Home Guard chief said.



He said everyone’s role would be given equal importance to make the force a professional body. “We want the Home Guards to be one of the finest professional bodies in the state and we would give equal importance to everyone for their contribution,” he added.


The former Director General of Police said that official quarters were being constructed for the past three years near the headquarters and within the next few months these would be completed for the Home Guards and their families to move in.


Moreover, Marbaniang lauded the role of volunteers in shaping the department, terming such volunteers as the “bedrock” of the organisation. “We are planning to have more volunteers and are conducting civil defence programmes for teachers, school children to make the organisation a better professional unit,” he told the gathering.

MEGHALAYA AQUACULTURE MISSION LAUNCHED, BUT RIVERS DYING

Meghalaya state in India's north-east  launched the State Aquaculture Mission with great fanfare to develop fishery as an alternate industry, amidst growing concern about Rivers in the state turning acidic due to years of unscientific mining and nothing much is done about it.

Chief Minister, Mukul Sangma launched the project at the function at Polo grounds and said it would target one lakh farmers during the next five years. The basic objective of the project is to expand the area covered under fisheries and increase productivity.

Other aspects of the mission are to conserve indigenous fish varieties, train farmers on modern technological know-how and developing other ancillary industries related to Pisciculture.

“We need the help and support of everyone in the state to transform this aquaculture mission into a people’s movement,” he told the gathering of farmers who came from all corners of the state.

However, there is great concern about the quality of the water deteriorating in many of the Rivers of the state due to years of unscientific mining. Aquatic lives have vanished in these Rivers, especially in Jaintia Hills district, of this north-eastern state of India, where coal and limestone mining is a major industry.

Some of the Rivers like Lukha in the Khliehriat sub-division have turned blue due to high acidic content and aquatic life have perished. Several other Rivers in the district like the Myntdu, Lunar and others have a low Ph value and are acidic in nature.

In fact, the acidic nature of the water has corroded costly water in the Kopili Hydel project and there is apprehension about the recently inaugurated Leskha-Myntdu project facing similar consequences.

“The Rivers have been poisoned and this is dwindling fishing areas. We must protect these Rivers and the ecosystem,” Deputy Chief Minister Rowell Lyngdoh said at the function.

Chairman of State planning Board and former Chief Minister Donkupar Roy also expressed similar concern saying the Ranikor and Umgnot Rivers have all been contaminated by the Industries and people.  “We need to protect our Rivers from people and industries,” he told the gathering.

Sangma said alternative source of income like fish farming would ease the pressure from mining non-renewable minerals and would help in conservation programmes.

He said the government was providing 60 per cent grant to farmers who are willing to take up pisciculture. The government would assist the farmers in getting credit and loan facilities for another 30 per cent from different agencies. The rest would be borne by the beneficiaries themselves, Sangma said about the project.

LPG CONSUMERS TO GET FREEDOM WITH GAS PORTABILITY SCHEME

Are you unhappy with the service of your present Gas cylinder distributor? Not to worry, because soon LPG gas cylinder consumers would be able to switch to LPG distributors of their choice, under a recently approved “Portability of LPG connections” scheme.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has approved the Gas portability scheme last month in which consumers would be able to switch between at least four gas cylinder distributing agencies provided in a cluster or locality.

The scheme has been approved in 480 districts across the country, including those in Meghalaya. “We are working out the details and would take action shortly,” East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner, Sanjay Goyal said about the new scheme.

The Central Government together with Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) first launched LPG connection portability scheme in 24 districts covering 13 States in October last year under a pilot project.

Based on its success, the scheme was launched throughout India on January 22, covering a population of over 8.2 crore LPG consumers in 480 districts of the country.

“This measure will bring great relief to those LPG consumers who are unhappy with the services of their current distributor or want to move to an LPG distributor closer to their home,” the Ministry of petroleum and natural gas said in its statement.

The OMCs have made more than 1,400 clusters distributors in over 480 districts with an average of almost 4 distributors per cluster to choose from.

Some of the other features of the scheme are that there would be “no transfer fee or additional security deposit charges” for transfer of connection. The transfers can also be done online.

Meanwhile, some of the consumers have also complained that Gas agencies in the State Capital are indulging in unscrupulous means to dupe the consumers for getting new connection.

“The Gas agencies are forcefully selling cooking gas stoves and many other unwanted items with the new connection. In fact, only the cylinders must be bought from the agencies and buying the rest depends upon the customers. Such violations must be checked by the authorities,” another consumer said.

The Procedure to opt for portability is very simple.  To register for Portability, the LPG Consumers need to do the following:

Visit the website of the Oil Marketing company they are presently with

            www.indane.co.in for IOCL

            www.hpgas.com for HPCL, and

            www.ebharatgas.com for BPCL

●          Register themselves in the site, if not registered already

●          See the distributors in the cluster and their star rating in terms of refill delivery performance

●          Select the distributor of their choice from the cluster and submit request

●          The consumer will receive an email confirming the registration and advising details of further procedure

●          In case of Intra-Company portability request, i.e., within the same company, the LPG consumer has to visit only the new distributor with a copy of the email and get enrolled.

●          In case of Inter-Company transfer, i.e. between two different Oil companies, since the LPG equipment is not compatible across companies, the consumer will have to visit the current distributor and surrender the cylinder and pressure regulator, collect the refund/transfer documents and then approach the distributor of his/her choice for reconnection by paying the same deposit as earlier.

●          No Transfer fee or additional security deposit will be charged for transfer of connection under the portability scheme.

MUSLIMS MUCH SAFER IN INDIA THAN IN ISLAMIC COUNTRIES: DALAI LAMA

Muslims  are much safer in India than some of their brethren in Islamic countries, the Dalai Lama today said.

Interacting with the media and discussing about the Indian democracy’s strength and weaknesses, the Dalai Lama said that despite some of the problems in the country, India remains a strong democracy providing equal opportunity and protection for all religion, caste, community and race.

Emphasising on the robustness of the Indian democracy, the Dalai Lama said: “ Muslims  are much safer in India than in Islamic countries.”

To further accentuate his observation, he touched upon the Shia-Sunni conflict and prosecution of Shias in Pakistan and similar sectarian violence in Muslim nations. When point out about the Gujarat riots, he said that these problems have occurred in “certain pockets” of the country, but overall India has been peaceful.

 

“There was this incident in Odisha where a missionary was burnt, these sorts of incident occurs in certain pockets of the country, but overall India has maintained religious harmony,” the Nobel laureate said.

The Tibetan spiritual leader further said that the “present economic structure in India is not sustainable” with the gap between the rich and poor widening and urged the policy-makers to shift their focus on developing the rural sectors of the country.

“The gap between the rich and the poor must reduce and for that to happen the focus must shift from developing the big cities to the villages,” he said.

The Dalai Lama added that authorities must try to have roads, hospitals, schools, colleges built in the villages to stop rural migrations and control the population overburden in the urban centres. He added that India mustn't have billionaires only from the cities, but have such people with wealth from the village levels too.

“I have suggested to the authorities at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to have their branches established in the rural areas of the country,” he said adding, only then India can claim its rightful place amongst the super powers of the world.

Reiterating that corruption is the cancer afflicting not just India, but all over the world, the Dalai Lama  said that “ahimsa” or non-violence must be practised in all walks of life, be it in the economic sector, political or overall governance.

 “The concept of ahimsa must be taught right from the kindergarten level so that it touches all aspects of our lives,” the Dalai Lama said. 

DALAI LAMA SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM AND ALSO REAL ECONOMY

The Tibetan Spiritual leader Dalai Lama is not just a wealth of knowledge and wisdom, but also a source of  real economy for many, driving them in their pursuit for daily sustenance in the materialistic world.

Apart from the Dalai Lama’s official entourage, which includes his security and other officials, there is an unofficial entourage that follows the Dalai Lama wherever he visits in India and indirectly serves as cultural ambassadors.

These are the large number of vendors that travel from places such as Bhutan, Bihar (Bodh Gaya), Sikkim and other places selling religious artefacts, trinkets and whatnots, in places the Dalai Lama travels.

“I have been travelling all over the country wherever the Dalai Lama visits and sell these items to the people,” said Rigjin Lama of Bhutan, selling posters of the Dalai Lama, Trinkets and other items of religious significance to the people in Meghalaya's State Capital Shillong. The Dalai Lama was in this northeastern part of India from February 3rd to 5th.

 

It is not just the local Buddhist population that these vendors are looking for, but also those who travel from far off places just to get a glimpse and hear the Dalai Lama in person.

People have driven hundreds of kilometres to come to see the Dalai Lama. “This is a lifetime opportunity to see the Dalai Lama and hear him speak about his beliefs and thought process, it has been a wonderful experience,” said Kenchowangdi and Pematashi who came from Bhutan to listen to the Dalai Lama.

In today’s discourse the Dalai Lama spoke about ways to meditate and take control of the mind and soul. The Dalai spoke in one of the Tibetan dialects and there were two interpreters who translated it to Arunachalee and Bhutanese. The whole Polo ground was decked with flags and people with their family and children listened to the 14^th Dalai Lama in an environment of festivity.

In fact, wherever the Dalai Lama   visit that becomes a holy site, a mini-Tibet, a pilgrimage for the faithful showcasing the rich-Tibetan culture, something that China has miserably failed to surpass.

INDIA RELIGIOUS, BUT ALSO HAVE LOTS OF CORRUPTION : DALAI LAMA

The Dalai Lama has said that despite being a “religious country,” there is a “lot of corruption” in modern India and some of those corrupt are “highly educated” citizens.

Addressing the convocation of the Martin Luther Christian University (MLCU) in which 500 odd students received their degrees, the Dalai Lama said: “India is a religious country, but there is a lot of corruption here.”

He said that some of these corrupt individuals were highly educated in the “modern” system of education. He added that many pray and offer “flowers and incense sticks” to their Gods so that their “corrupt lives” could be made successful.  

The audience burst into a spontaneous applause and laughter to the Dalai Lama’s observation, which however, put the Meghalaya Governor KK Paul, Chief Minister Mukul Sangma and many others on the dais and in the gathering to shuffle uneasily in their chairs.

The Dalai Lama’s observation on corruption relates to the number of scams that have surfaced in the country over the years and also the global corruption perception index (Transparency International), which has continuously put India at the bottom of its list, as one of the most corrupt nations of the world.

Emphasizing on honesty, tolerance, non-violence, trust and secularism, the Dalai Lama said these virtues would help in the long run and these have been the hallmark of India’s ancient tradition and opened new vistas for the modern world.     

“India is the greatest contributor of human knowledge to the world,” he said. Calling himself a “student of the Nalanda tradition” of learning, the Dalai Lama said the vast ancient knowledge from Universities such as Nalanda, Taxila and others must be merged with the modern system of education.

“The concept of quantum physics was taught 2000 years back in Universities such as Nalanda, moreover, the ancient Indian psychology was also highly developed” he told the gathering.  

Meanwhile, the Nobel Laureate, who is here on his maiden visit to Meghalaya, was conferred an honorary doctorate degree on Philosophy by the MLCU.

WATER METERS FOR SHILLONG RESIDENTS

Households in Meghalaya’s State capital Shillong would have water meters installed once the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme (GSWSS) Phase-III is completed this year by the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department.

Under the scheme, all households would be able to draw water and their bills would be calculated based on the water they consume. The total population in the State capital, to be covered under the project, is estimated to be 5.12 lakh. This, experts say would help minimize wastage of water.

The use of water meters was mooted by AusAid in 2004-05 when the organizations carried out various projects in the State and suggested the implementation of water meters to minimize wastage and augment the Government coffers.

Under the AUSAID’s pilot project, 150 water meters were installed in Jail road in the State capital during the same period and based on the feedb

ack from the pilot project the decisions to have water meters was roughly formulated.

“Water meters would be installed in all the households that would be covered under the GSWSS phase-III and the billing and other formalities would be done accordingly by the PHE once the project is completed,” PW Ingty, Principal Secretary, PHE, said.

 However the project, funded under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission at a cost of Rs 193 crore, has witnessed undue delays and missed several completion deadlines. Ingty said that according to the PHE, 62 per cent work on the project has been completed so far, but in some areas here there have been problems for laying of water pipes.

 

“In Mawlai and parts of Jaiaw there has been problems in obtaining permission for laying of the pipes, these issues are being sorted out,” he said. After the completion of the project the supply of water would be 135 litre per day per capita, officials said. 

India-Bangladesh headed towards new exciting beginning: Bangladesh envoy

Bangladesh High Commissioner to India, Tariq A Karim today said that India and Bangladesh are headed towards a “new and exciting” beginning in their bilateral ties.

Addressing a press meet after meeting Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma here, Karim said that a slew of new initiatives in trade and commerce to other mutual bilateral exchanges have been set in motion and these would take the two neighbouring countries closer.

Amongst the new policies is the proposed construction of the National Highway 127B that would connect the two countries right from north Bengal to Chittagong port. The highway would begin from North Bengal touch Bhutan-Dhubri (Assam)-Dalu-Narayanganj (Meghalaya, Garo Hills) and move into Bangladesh and eventually culminate Chittagong port.

Moreover, the Shillong-Sylhet-Dhaka bus service is in its final stages of being approved. Karim said that talks on starting the bus service began some years back and the service would soon be implemented.

 

There is also a talk to open more border haats between the two countries. Currently, two border haats, each in Tripura and Meghalaya, are doing trade successfully with their respective Bangladesh counterparts.

There are proposals to open similar border haats along the International border. The Bangladesh High Commissioner said that Meghalaya has proposed setting up 22 new border haats and added these would be opened in stages and based on the success of the new haats similar haats would be opened throughout the International border.

To develop the communication system further, talks are also on to re start the inland waterway service between the two countries. Karim said these waterways were important routes for trade and commerce before partition.

In this connection, he added that air service between the northeast and Bangladesh would get a fillip after Bangladesh Biman agreed to fly twice a week between Guwahati and Dhaka from July this year.

“Initially, Bangladesh Biman would be operating two ATRS during this service and then there is plan to operate 727 aircrafts,” he added.

Karim further said that Bangladesh is seeking to retrieve the mortal remains of “Bangladesh war heroes” who were buried in India. He said the initiative would have “huge emotional” and help building stronger ties between the people of the two nations.

He said that a Joint foreign Secretary-level meeting that is slated to be held between the two countries in the next few months and would hammer out new policy frameworks on some of these issues.

“We are trying to re-discover and re-connect to our historical ties, although history and colonial legacy intervened. Despite this, we are headed towards a new beginning,” the Bangladesh High Commissioner stated. 

SPECIAL FORCE 10 MEGHALAYA

These would be men and women not on “Her Majesty’s” but, “Meghalaya’s service,” and unlike James Bond, would be answerable to people in protecting their days and nights from rioters, communal elements and insurgents.

For all the James Bond fans, introducing Meghalaya’s very own Special Force - the Special Force 10. The force is for real and would be raised by the State Government after the Cabinet gave its approval yesterday and it would consist of ten battle-hardened companies, including a women’s. The total strength of the special force would be 1795.

“We have decided to raise the Special Force 10 (SF-10),” State Home Minister Roshan Warjri announced after the decision to raise the special force. Now, the State Government would tweak the Meghalaya Police Act so that the formal process of recruitment of men and women for SF-10 could begin.

Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said that the State needed a special force of its own, as time and again reliance on the centre for paramilitary forces for internal security, has been fraught with uncertainties. He justified: “maintaining internal security is the duty of the state government, since law and order is the responsibility of the state Government.”

The training of the SF-10 would be undertaken by “experts from outside the state.” The commandos and the officers would all undergo the training so that they are ready to multi-task when it comes to handling internal security scenario. That would mean jumping from a counter-insurgency operation to a “control the riots” scenario.

It is likely that the SF-10 would undergo intensive training under the National Security Guards (NSG) or MARCOS, India’s Marine Commandos. Para Commandos, NSG and MARCOS are highly trained to deal with crisis situations and are amongst the top special forces of the world.

Special Forces around the world are revered for the special operations they undertaken under worst case scenarios mainly in rescue operations. The heroics of the NSG and MARCOS are etched in the collective memory of Indians during the rescue operations of Mumbai Terror attack in 2011 and Akshardham terror attack.

In Meghalaya, the Garo Hills situation is slowly but surely spiraling out of hand and coupled with situations like last year’s agitation called by NGOs and its violent fall-out, the Government’s work is cut out on  internal security management and so the SF-10.