Shillong, April 21: The one-man inquiry committee headed by Justice (retd) B P Katakey, which was appointed to recommend to the state government the measures on coal-related issues, on Friday informed that so far 6 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of inventoried coal has been auctioned by CIL and the process is on to expedite the auction so that by May another 12 lakh MT can be put to sale.
Informing that he has taken stock of the quantity of coal transported to the designated depot and the coal is only a part of inventoried coal which is around 14 lakh in quantity, he said, “As per the time schedule given by the High Court, by end of May the government requires to sell 12 lakh metric tonnes of coal and so far 6 lakh metric tonne of coal has been put to auction by CIL in terms of the Supreme Court order.”
“So, they are behind schedule by 30 days and so far, I am trying to expedite so that by May, 12 lakh MT coal could be put to sale,” he added.
CAPF deployment
He further informed that the process for the identification of areas and strategic spots for the deployment of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) to check illegal transportation of coal is on in Meghalaya.
Justice Katakey, said, “The High Court recently issued direction and the High Court has fixed on 27 but (we are) expecting that the government of India will deploy ten companies of police force. We are in the process of identifying the strategic points where these deployments should be for the purpose of checking illegal transportation”.
Katakey, a retired judge of the Gauhati High Court, was appointed by the Meghalaya High Court to ascertain whether the State government’s crack-down on illegal coal mining and its transportation is in accordance to the direction of the Supreme Court and the NGT.
