DIMAPUR, JUNE 29 (MExN): Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio today expressed environmental concerns and put focus on creating wealth for the people of Nagaland in the process of extracting mineral resources. Addressing the 27th edition of the State Geological Programming Board at Dimapur today, Rio said resources should be developed and utilized “economically and judiciously, using the most advanced technology, and also taking care not to disturb the delicate environment, or the ecological balance.”
He urged the Central and State government organizations, and the private sectors, to put major thrust in bringing out project feasibility reports “so that the discovery of each mineral deposit is followed by developmental stage, which will create employment avenues, and also bring revenue to the State’s Exchequer.”
Pleased with the generation of “substantial revenue” from coal royalty within a short period after the adoption of the Nagaland Coal Policy and the taking over the coal subject by the department of geology and mining, he hoped that “oil exploration and development of oil in the State, which had been a contentious issue for quite some tine, will be resolved soon.”
Since Nagaland’s people are new to resource exploration, the various agencies involved in mineral resource utilization should be fair and transparent and build trust with the people, he said.
That the doors of opportunity have opened wider for more outside participation in extracting the natural wealth of the state was made evident by power point presentations from Canoro Resources, Oil and Natural Gas Company and the Geological Survey of India.
A memento presented to Rio, shaped in the form of a sphere and made from Nagaland’s marble, attempted to signify that Nagaland was heading towards contributing more to the expanding global village.
On coal mining activities, Geologist T Mar Imchen in his approach-paper said unscientific and unmethodical ways are being carried out by private parties in many parts of the State as the government has very little control over the land and resources that “belong to the people.”
“The miners extract the coal rampantly without having any concrete market arrangement/link-up and thus most of the extracted coal gets oxidized and are washed away.”
“To avoid this unscientific and uneconomical coal mining business in Nagaland, perhaps the best method would be an indirect approach where a complete project … may be operated by the Government in small plot of land (say 1 sq km) either purchased, leased or acquired.”
