SHILLONG: The State Government is trying to ascertain the truth behind the report in a vernacular daily that the Assam Government is conducting a survey on the Khri river in West Khasi Hills for implementing a power project.

Besides information regarding a survey, the report also stated that the power project is likely to displace a large number of villagers who are residing close to the Khri river.

Shillong, Oct. 8: Meghalaya is all set to have a wool bank where due weightage will be given to sheep and angora rabbit rearing.

SHILLONG: Meghalaya governor RS Mooshary today came under sharp criticism by the Khasi Students Union for advocating Uranium mining in the state.

The KSU termed as “ploy” the governor’s recent plea allowing speedy implementation of the long pending uranium mining in the belts of South West Khasi Hills for the sake of development of the under-developed uranium deposited villages. KSU’s South West Khasi Hills vice president R Bahun Sanglyne Basan said,“The governor is simply echoing the same words used by the central government” and wanted to know what had the central and state governments been doing to these villages in the past several years.

Shillong, Sept. 27: Meghalaya was today certified as the worst state in the country in relation to coal mining, by governor Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary.

SHILLONG: The HSPDP on Thursday asked the State Government to revoke the order on declaring parts of West Khasi Hills as an elephant reserve.

The Central Executive Committee of HSPDP which met on Thursday took a serious note on the notification issued by the Forest department in this regard. The general secretary of HSPDP, EK Raswai, said after the meeting that as the land belongs to the people, the Government cannot away take the rights of people.

SHILLONG: Residents of Mawkyrwat, headquarters of new South West Khasi Hills district, are concerned that river Sala, the only source of potable drinking water for them, might be contaminated in the wake of fresh wave of urbanisation.

The locals want that prior care should be taken so that river pollution does not become a hazardous issue for the posterity. The alert citizens from all walks of life yesterday urged the district administration to “protect” the catchment area along the river Sala so that it did not turn into another Umkhrah river, flowing through Shillong

SHILLONG: Implementation of the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), popularly referred to as the rural electrification scheme, has been progressing at a snail’s pace affecting the rural people of Meghalaya.

According to officials associated with RGGVY, the central scheme is facing hurdles in its implementation for the last three areas, especially in laying transmission line and outsourcing of bill collection through franchisees.

SHILLONG: There is a decrease in the forest cover in the State as per an official report. The decline is a cause of concern considering the ecological impact it could have in the area.

While the forest cover in the State was 77.23 per cent as per the report in 2009, the percentage stands at 77.02 in 2011 showing a decline of 0.23 per cent. Rampant felling of trees in West Khasi Hills coupled with encroachment of forest areas by people in parts of Garo Hills have resulted in the loss of forest cover. There are also reports of deforestation in Garo Hills.

Shillong, Sept 7 (IANS): A slight intensity earthquake measuring 4.2 on the Richter Scale shook India's Northeast late Thursday. The quake occurred around 11.57 pm.

SHILLONG: Coal is being randomly and unscientifically extracted from the coal rich areas of Nongri, Nonghyllam and Nongkulang area in West Khasi Hills district and then exported through Borsora and Cherragoan export points located along the India-Bangladesh border of Meghalaya.

Besides few adventurous locals, the exploiters of the ‘black diamond’ are mainly Shillong-based entrepreneurs, serving politicians, aspiring legislators and government officials. These coal barons have exploited this rich area without parting a share of the money to develop the area and its environment.