THANGSKO MINING TRAGEDY
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Feb 7: Under direct heat from the High Court following a fatal blast at Thangsko, the East Jaintia Hills administration has finally ordered the gloves to come off, directing police to hunt down not just the labourers, but the powerful “financiers” and “owners” behind the district’s lethal illegal coal trade.
District Magistrate Manish Kumar, invoking Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), has imposed a total ban on the assembly of five or more people around illegal mining sites in Thangsko. The order follows a February 5 explosion at an illegal mine in Mynsngat that resulted in multiple deaths and injuries.
The crackdown appears to be a direct response to the High Court of Meghalaya, which, on the same day as the blast, took judicial notice of three separate mining accidents and demanded “immediate, effective and stringent action” against those involved.
In an admission of a lapse in ground-level intelligence, the District Magistrate’s order noted that evidence of continued illegal extraction came from “social media inputs” and local complaints. While the administration has now tasked Magistrates with “identifying” mine owners and financiers, the move follows years of criticism that authorities have ignored the well-known identities of those controlling the trade.
The administration also expressed concern that local groups or individuals might attempt to obstruct law enforcement, dismantle machinery, or destroy makeshift camps to hide evidence. Consequently, Magistrates have been authorised to seize all vehicles, tools, and equipment used in the operations and to initiate criminal proceedings under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act.
The order, passed ex-parte due to the urgency of the situation, comes into force immediately.
It warns that any violation will result in strict penal action as the state attempts to prove the rule of law still applies in the Jaintia coal belt.
In response to the incident, the East Jaintia Hills District Administration has intensified enforcement against illegal mining. Five teams, comprising Executive Magistrates, police, and officials from the Directorate of Mineral Resources, have been deployed to conduct drives across the region.
During recent operations, authorities seized approximately 3,197 MT of coal from nine locations in Umlawang and 351 MT from four locations in Umthe. These actions follow a similar drive on February 6, where 3,356 MT of coal, along with tools and equipment, were seized along the Sakhain–Thangsko road.
Authorities also identified and destroyed makeshift camps used for illegal mining. FIRs have been registered, and further legal action is under way.
