Shillong: Manbhalang Phankon wants the feds in. The RTI activist and Meghalaya Against Corruption Movement secretary submitted a formal request to Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Monday. He is pushing for the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate to tear into the state's illegal coal trade. He wants the agencies to track the full cycle: extraction, transportation, financing, and the eventual sale of black-market coal to local coke and cement factories.
The math does not add up. Phankon pointed to data from the West Jaintia Hills Transport Officer claiming coal flows into the state from Nagaland. Yet, the volume of coal reported does not match the massive appetite of the regional industry. Phankon noted the lack of coal trucks on the roads. He specifically highlighted Nongjri in South West Khasi Hills, where trucks haul coke out toward Guwahati, but the supposed incoming shipments from Nagaland remain ghosts on the highway.
Coal has been banned here for 12 years. Still, the trade thrives. Phankon argued that asking citizens to file FIRs is a dead end. People fear the powerful, and they fear the well-connected. He wants the NPP-led MDA government to open the books and allow a neutral probe into who bankrolls these operations and where the cash flows. The public wants answers on the hidden financial channels behind this industry.
He is not stopping at the CM's office. Phankon plans to take his case to the Governor and the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. “If necessary, we were prepared to approach the Supreme Court seeking appropriate directions for an independent investigation and pursue all available legal and constitutional remedies,” he said. He expects full transparency on who profits from the illegal pits.
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