Hearing on uranium mining gets into legal tangle

Choudhary said, 8220;Without the public being informed about the contents of the EIA report of the project, the public hearing will be illegal.8221; Choudhary further argued that to seek the views, comments and objections without disclosing the actual impact of the project itself would render the idea of public hearing meaningless.

He directed the SPCB to issue a fresh notice of public hearing only after making public the summary of the draft EIA report in select offices and public libraries in the state.

As if this was not enough, the Shillong Bench of Gauhati High Court directed the SPCB to allow participation of the Meghalaya People8217;s Human Rights Commission MPHRC during the public hearing at Nongbah-Jynrin. MPHRC Chairman Dino Dympep had moved a PIL before the court requesting it to direct the SPCB to allow the MPHRC to participate.

MPHRC had approached the court after the Nongbah-Jynrin headman didn8217;t respond to its request for giving permission to Dympep to participate during the public hearing. The SPCB had notified that persons interested in participating in the hearing must obtain a certificate from the local headman of Nongbah-Jynrin.