Shillong: The Meghalaya Government is not
in a hurry to start the proposed uranium mining project in the
state and the government was open to any suggestion on the
issue, Chief Minister D D Lapang told the Assembly today.
Indicating that the Centre was putting pressure on the
state to initiate the project, Lapang said, the state MLAs did
not object the pre-developmental works proposed to be carried
out by the UCIL in the uranium rich areas.
"The legislators have, however, told the government to
be cautious about the health and environment aspect," he said
while replying to the private members motion tabled by
Independent Manas Chaudhuri.
"We would like to accommodate suggestions from public
representatives and public," he said adding "The Centre wants
the state government to start the project. It is very
difficult for the state government to say no to the request of
the Centre, as the state is dependant on it for all-round
development," he said.
Giving in to pressure from various agitating
organizations led by the Khasi Students Union, Meghalaya
government had last month put on hold the UCIL’s pre-mining
developmental works in the uranium-rich areas of the state,
two months after it had given the go-ahead to the corporation.
The government has formed a committee to look into the
apprehensions expressed by the organizations.
PTI
First Published: Monday, December 07, 2009, 21:54