Shillong | Nov 21, 2017: The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended the date for transportation of extracted and assessed coal in Meghalaya by another four months, bringing respite to coalminers.

The apex court had on September 21 last year allowed transportation of coal with effect from October 1, 2016 till May 31, 2017.

Days before the deadline ended in May, the State Co-ordination Committee of Coal Owners, Miners & Dealers Forum had approached the apex court for extension of the transportation window by citing, as one of the reasons, difficulty in disposing of the extracted coal because of the then prevalent market circumstances.

Advocate P. Yobin, legal counsel of the forum, said Tuesday's order was an extension of the September 21 order with the court allowing transportation of extracted and assessed coal for four more months.

It is, however, not clear when the four-month period will commence from.

Yobin said according to state government records, about 7.8 lakh metric tonnes of coal is yet to be transported.

According to advocate Ranjan Mukherjee, who is the Meghalaya government's legal counsel, the court has allowed the transportation of the extracted coal to take place with effect from Tuesday.

Forum chairperson Sonny L. Khyriem said the order has provided temporary relief to coal miners.

"The forum, as one of the impleading parties, had appealed for permission to transport the remaining extracted coal in an application filed in the apex court three months ago. We are thankful for the let-up granted by the court," he added.

The ban on illegal coal mining imposed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) is in force in Meghalaya since April 17, 2014.

However, the tribunal has allowed transportation of extracted and assessed coal at regular intervals.

From time to time, several coal-laden trucks were seized by law enforcers from different parts of the state in clear violation of the tribunal's orders while illegal mining was detected in some mines, especially in the coal-rich areas of East Jaintia Hills district.

(Source: https://www.telegraphindia.com/)