By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, April 10: Faced with the dilemma of addressing the concerns of small coal miners while remaining bound by directives of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Supreme Court, the state government is actively exploring a “middle ground”.
Cabinet Minister and NPP leader Wailadmiki Shylla on Friday acknowledged the difficulties faced by small mine operators, particularly in adapting to scientific mining methods.
He pointed out that the nature of coal deposits in Meghalaya, especially in regions dominated by small-scale mining, makes large-scale opencast mining both impractical and financially unviable.
The limited size of individual mining areas further compounds the challenge, he admitted.
Shylla said the government is fully aware of the issue and has been pursuing possible solutions, but emphasised that any course of action must align with the firm positions taken by the NGT and the apex court.
He clarified that the restrictions are not imposed arbitrarily by the state, but stem from judicial directives, which the government is obligated to follow.
Despite these constraints, he said efforts are ongoing to explore feasible alternatives that could accommodate the needs of small miners without violating legal and environmental norms.
Despite the government’s attempts, the Supreme Court directive for shifting to scientific mining remains largely unimplemented. Directions from the top court to transition to properly regulated, mechanised scientific mining with environmental safeguards, progress has been extremely slow.
Only a few scientific mining leases have been granted and made operational so far, with reports indicating around three active sites as of early 2026 and a limited number more in the pipeline.
The reasons include prolonged bureaucratic delays in clearances, absence of a comprehensive and practical policy framework suited to local conditions, resistance from communities heavily dependent on traditional mining for livelihoods, challenging hilly terrain that complicates enforcement and operations, and limited investment in required technology and infrastructure.
In the meantime, surreptitious and illegal mining continues unabated across several districts, particularly in East Jaintia Hills. This has been starkly exposed by site visits and reports filed by the one-man Committee headed by Justice (retd) B.P. Katakey before the High Court of Meghalaya and also through repeated mine disasters since the 2014 NGT ban on coal mining.
In December 2018, fifteen miners were trapped in a flooded rat-hole mine at Ksan in East Jaintia Hills. Two bodies were eventually recovered after months of arduous rescue efforts, while the remaining thirteen were presumed dead, their bodies never found.
In January 2021, six workers lost their lives when a rat-hole mine collapsed in the same district. Smaller but deadly incidents persisted, including a dynamite blast in the Thangsko area on December 23, 2025, that killed one worker on the spot and injured others, followed by further fatalities from related blasts in the weeks that followed.
The most devastating tragedy struck on February 5, 2026, when a powerful dynamite explosion ripped through an illegal rat-hole mine in the remote Mynsyngat village of the Thangsko area in East Jaintia Hills, killing 33, many of them migrant labourers from Assam and other states.
Amid these recurring tragedies and the slow rollout of scientific mining, voices are increasingly being raised to start regulated coal mining in Meghalaya on a larger and more practical scale.
Lawmakers, community organisations, and coal miners’ associations, have urged the state government and the Centre to formulate a clear, balanced policy.
They call for amendments to overly strict norms, inclusion of small-scale scientific operations suited to the state’s unique geology, and measures that safeguard indigenous landowners while ensuring environmental protection and sustainable livelihoods.
