Stage set for scientific mining of coal

SHILLONG, Jan 16: In what may be termed as good news for miners and exporters, the Union government has approved the geological report of four miners of the state, paving the way for scientific mining of coal in Meghalaya.
Disclosing this at a press conference here on Monday, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said the Union Ministry of Coal informed the state government during a recent meeting that the geological reports submitted by four miners have been approved.
The four miners would have to submit their mining plans to the government before obtaining the licence to start scientific mining of coal.
The CM recalled that the state government had filed a case in the Supreme Court challenging the ban on coal mining imposed by the National Green Tribunal in 2014.
“The Supreme Court gave a landmark judgment that the ownership of the land is vested with local tribals of the state and based on that the ban on coal mining was lifted,” the chief minister said.
In March 2022, the Centre and the state government framed rules and SOPs for prospecting and mining licences. In the following months, the government received 17 applicants for prospecting licence which were forwarded to the Union government.
Reminded about the rampant cases of illegal mining in the state, the CM said there are provisions under the MMDR Act to take action against anyone who breaks the law. He added: “Now that the state is close to resuming coal mining, I am hopeful that individuals would not resort to illegal coal mining.”
On the auctioning of the extracted coal, he said it was under way.