Shillong: The National People’s Youth Front (NPYF) has called upon the Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC), Bah Shemborlang Rynjah, to take immediate action against the recent Office Memorandum (OM) issued by the Government of India regarding uranium mining.
Speaking to the press, NPYF Working President Bah Bajop Pyngrope said the organisation is deeply concerned over the OM released by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on September 8. The OM exempts the requirement of public consultation for the extraction of atomic minerals such as uranium, as well as critical and strategic minerals listed under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act.
Pyngrope stressed that such a directive poses a serious threat to the land and people of Meghalaya. He informed that the NPYF has urged the CEM to urgently intervene and use the constitutional powers vested under the Sixth Schedule to protect the rights and land of indigenous communities.
According to Pyngrope, the CEM has assured the group that the matter will be taken up on priority and that the KHADC will soon convene a meeting with its officials to decide on a course of action.
The NPYF maintained that uranium mining has long been opposed by the people of Meghalaya due to health, environmental, and cultural concerns, and warned that any attempt to bypass public consultation will not be accepted.
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