Land owners’ nod to uranium mining

SHILLONG, Oct 13: Years of untold misery and hardship prompted eight village chiefs and land owners of Mawthabah-Nongbah Jynrin to endorse the government’s decision of leasing out 422 acres of land to Uranium Corporation of India (UCIL) for pre-uranium mining developmental programmes. This was said by sordars (village chiefs), villagers and land owners at a public hearing conducted by the Assembly Committee on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes at Mawthabah, around 180 km from here.

The committee headed by four-time Congress MLA HDR Lyngdoh showed its clear indication towards the long-pending uranium mining in West Khasi Hills district of the State, and the response was a few words — “yes to uranium mining” — by village elders and land owners to the committee members who had decided to carry along.

Sordar of Mawthabah A Lyngdoh Sangraing told newsmen, “All village chiefs and land owners are unanimous in the decision to lease out land to UCIL”. Contrary to claims of the anti-uranium lobby that most of land owners and people of the area are against UCIL’s pre-mining developmental projects, Sangriang said, “No one can challenge our ownership over the 422 acres of land that we have decided to lease out to UCIL, and we have taken the decision after considering all pros and cons.” He added: “We have nothing to say on the decision of people who own other areas in other uranium-deposit sites”.

The statement assumed significance in view of the opposition of KSU, LYWA and other bodies to the uranium mining project on the ground that most of the people are not in favour of mining. Further challenging the anti-uranium group’s version that strange diseases have affected people in and around Mawthabah area after the exploration work of Atomic Mines Division (AMD), an elder resident of Nongbah Jynrin B Nonglang said, “There is no strange disease in the areas and people have died of the same diseases that afflict common people anywhere”.

Attributing his endorsement to UCIL projects, Nonglang said that this would ease the three-to-four-kilometre trek to reach the nearest health centre and to sell their agricultural produce. “We have suffered enough because of lack of proper infrastructure, and I don’t want our future generation to suffer,” said another resident of the area, R Lyngdoh Marshillong.

The government felt that this would be the first step towards ushering in a new era for a place that has not seen an upper primary school, a health centre, electricity and motorable roads. THE SENTINEL