Shillong, Dec. 9 -- Rat hole mining has been practiced for 200 years in Meghalaya and so it is not easy for the people to abandon the tradition overnight, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said on Tuesday.
"I have repeated this a hundred times . 200 years before 2014, rat-hole coal mining sustained lakhs of families in Meghalaya and suddenly you come and say that the same thing which was okay and legal for 200 years is from tomorrow illegal," Sangma said.
The Chief Minister asked if it is fair on the people, who have sustained their livelihood and supporting family on such coal mining practices.
In April 2014, the National Green Tribunal banned the hazardous rat-hole coal mining due to its illegal, unscientific nature and harm to the environm...