Pdf relentless mining in meghalaya, india researchgate. Meghalayas annual coal production of nearly 6 million tonnes is mostly said. The disappearance of 15 meghalaya miners reminds us again of the failure of the authority concerned to comply with the national green tribunals order. Department of mining and geology, government of meghalaya.
The coal is one of the extensively utilized minerals in meghalaya. Dec 26, 2018 so despite a ban, rathole mining remains the prevalent procedure for coal mining in meghalaya. Local self government and 6th schedule status under the constitution the assam reorganisation meghalaya act of 1969 accorded an autonomous status to the state of meghalaya. Shabbeer ahmed shaik meghalaya is considered to have a rich base of mineral resources. Development and regulation act, 1957 the act that governs all minerals prohibits mining of any mineral without a lease in. Relentless mining in meghalaya, india kiranmay sarma1 and pramod k yadav2 local people of meghalaya and migrants from neighboring states and even from bangladesh have started mining to survive, putting increased pressure on land and water suppli the mining activities have brought in the desired effect of economic growth but on the. Pdf processed with cutepdf evaluation edition 87 limestone mining and its environmental implications in meghalaya, india r.
The meghalaya mining accident happened on december 2018, when 15 miners were trapped in a mine in ksan, in the indian state of meghalaya. Road road transport is the only means of communication in the state with the nearest railhead at guwahati. The two industries ranked together as the primary or basic industries of early civilization. The ban on coal mining by ngt in meghalaya was one of the major issue in assembly election held early this year. Indias treacherous coal mines in meghalaya circle of blue. Jan 15, 2018 kyellengpyndengsohiong, mawthabah kpm uranium mining project is located in the west khasi hills district of meghalaya state in the north east region of india. Before this, the state government was not concerned with the prevention of rathole mining, which has endangered the life of miners since the 1980s. Meghalayas exemptions do not allow them to violate the constitutional right to life of all indian citizens. Coal mining in meghalaya the jaintia hills, one of the seven districts of meghalaya occupies the eastern part of the state.
Coal mining in meghalaya has huge political patronage. Meghalaya is the third uranium rich state in the country after jharkhand and andhra pradesh. The act came into effect on 2 april 1970, and an autonomous state of meghalaya was created in the state of assam. Yadav2 local people of meghalaya and migrants from neighboring states and even from bangladesh have started mining to survive, putting increased pressure on land and water supplies. In the northeastern state of meghalaya, where illegal coal mining has been on the rise, many have lost their lives in the lifegambling occupation. General meghalaya united nations concerned about indias suspension of ngo on the pretext of using foreign funding for drawing attention to uranium mining in meghalaya.
According to the report, unscientific mining has led to contamination of water bodies and rendering of large track of. Economy of assam and meghalaya is hard hit following the ban. Conservation science translating knowledge into actions relentless mining in meghalaya, india kiranmay sarma1 and pramod k. Six days on, 14 miners remain trapped in flooded meghalaya. About 9% of the countrys total limestone reserves are distributed in the state. Generally done illegally, this type of mining is mainly carried out in the northeast regions of india mainly the state of meghalaya, by members of the community or families. The state governments view on the negative environmental and social consequences of coal mining is reflected in the meghalaya state development report of 2008. The incident vindicated the stand of activists that illegal coal mining occurs in the east jaintia hills. Amarjyoti borah goes deep into the issue meghalaya carries a bewitching world in its belly. The meghalaya mines and mineral policy, 2012 is being formulated with a focused mission of sustainable and ecofriendly growth of mineral deposits and mineral based industries. Stone mining in meghalaya destroying lives in assam. There are at least five petitions before a bench of the apex court on the coalmining issue.
Mining activity in jaintia hills is a small scale venture controlled by individuals who own the land, it is a primitive mining method and has been in practice in jaintia hills and the state for years now. The worsening energy shortage and the recent decline in coal mining productivity stimulated the panel to consider all factors influencing coal mining activities so that it could make recommendations for improving the environmental acceptability of coal mining and the health and safety of miners while also increasing productivity and improving. While five miners managed to escape, rescue efforts for the remaining 15 continued till 2 march 2019. Pdf coal mining in meghalaya an environmental perspective. Indian coal mining in meghalaya fully manual processing mining. Exactly how central coal mining is in meghalaya is clear after a look at the election affidavits of seven legislators. Plant communities get disturbed due to mining activities and following the mining, the habitats become impoverished presenting a very rigorous condition for its growth. In the last few weeks, the rat hole mine incident in meghalaya has exposed the illegal mining of coal rampant here despite a carpet ban since 2014. Stone mining in meghalaya destroying lives in assam mananimal conflict. Meghalaya, a small state in north eastern region of india is abundantly blessed with coal and limestone.
Meghalaya, one of the most picturesque states in the country, has two national parks and three wildlife sanctuaries. Critics in meghalaya claim that the ban encroaches on the tribal way of life and point to constitutional provisions exempting meghalaya from the purview of national mining laws. It is not regulated by any law, and coal extraction has been made by unscrupulous elements in a most illegal and unscientific manner. On april 17 2014, ngt banned the rat hole mining, a practice unique to meghalaya. Trapped meghalaya miners are the latest victims of years of labour exploitation. The jaintia hills district of meghalaya is a major coal producing area with an estimated coal reserve of about 40 million tonnes.
Meghalaya chief minister conrad k sangma on thursday praised as peoples victory the supreme court directive to lift the national green tribunal ban on coal mining and said the verdict has. The ban was ordered on complaints that meghalayas preferred mode of mineral extraction, rathole mining, was polluting rivers and water sources. Even before the caves in meghalaya can reveal clues to climate change, rampant mining is destroying their wealth. Keeping in view the objectives of the national mineral policy 2008, government of meghalaya has come out with the meghalaya mineral policy 2010. Pdf relentless mining in meghalaya, india pramod yadav. Meghalaya, with abundant deposits of coal, limestone, kaolin feldspar, quartz, granite, industrial clay and uranium and a small deposit base of sillimanite, bauxite, base metals and apatite has great industrial potential. Meghalaya has 11 districts and three main tribes garo, khasi and jaintia. Mining ban to continue in meghalaya the shillong times. When the ngt ban was ordered, meghalayas annual coal production was nearly 6 million tonnes. The state which is famous for rathole mining a term used in coal mining because of mines hole like.
The mining accident in meghalaya, where 15 coal diggers are missing since december, has brought to the fore how inextricably important coal is to the people and lawmakers of the state. The main objective of this booklet is to present updated statistical information on various socio economic indicators of the state of meghalaya. Status of water quality in coal mining areas of meghalaya, india sumarlin swer1 and o. The meghalaya legislative assembly election was held on 27 february 2018 to elect 59 of 60 members to the meghalaya legislative assembly, with the results declared on 3 march. Proceedings of national seminar on environmental management in mining and allied industries emma2008, november 78, 2008, bhu, varanasi. Meanwhile, meghalaya chief minister conrad sangma who had admitted a day after the incident that illegal mining was going on in the state has reiterated that although strict action against any illegal coal mining is taken whenever reported, the size of the state and the remoteness of the certain mining locations often makes it difficult. The benefit of coal mining goes to tribal heads, a few landowners and the political class. Meghalaya coal mine tragedy exposes states apathy for. Despite the imposition of a blanket ban on unscientific methods of coal mining in meghalaya in 2014, illegal rathole mining continues to take place in the state and right under the nose of the government machinery, putting lives at. Meghalaya is a small hill state in northeast india and shares an international border with bangladesh in the south. According to the report, unscientific mining has led to contamination of water bodies and rendering of large track of agricultural land infertile and unusable. The miners were trapped inside the coal mine at a depth of around 370 feet 112 meters in jaintia hills district. In order to understand how rich the north east is in mineral deposits, just take a look at page 24 of the governments own exploration and mining opportunities in india an investor guide, ministry of mines, government of india, 15 august, 2015 meghalaya, for instance, is largely an agricultural state but has sizeable deposits of minerals like coal, limestone, uranium.
Unregulated coal mining in meghalaya has destroyed the structure of tribal community land holding, resulting in largescale land alienation and displacement of tribal poor. The quarrying is affecting farmers in neighbouring assam as elephants roam around the paddy fields even during the day. Singh department of environmental studies, northeastern hill university, shillong793022, meghalaya, india for correspondence. The structural problems of rathole mining in meghalaya. May 17, 2015 national green tribunal coal mining in meghalaya 1. The uncontrolled and unscientific mining operation prevails within the nokrek biosphere reserve of meghalaya has resulted in largescale degradation of the soil quality causing serious threat to. The coal deposits are found along the southern fringe of the shillong plateau extending over a length of 400 km. The method of rathole mining involves digging pits ranging from five. Meghalaya, mining, regulatory framework, land rights, tribal land.
The supreme court will conduct a final hearing on issues related to coal mining in meghalaya on december 4. The socioeconomic caste census 2011 reveals that 76 per cent of the local tribal community is landless. Summary, conclusions, and recommendations coal mining the. Its capital is shillong, once called the scotland of the east by european settlers. The statistical handbook of meghalaya for the year 2017 is the twelfth in the series. The state accounts for 16 per cent of indias uranium reserves, with deposits estimated to be around 9,500 tones and 4,000 tones respectively at domiasiat. The meghalaya legislative assembly election was held on 27 february 2018 to elect 59 of 60. On 17 april 2014, indias national green tribunal ngt temporarily banned rathole mining in meghalaya. But there is a little space to avert excessive mining since. An economic perspective on coal mining in meghalaya the.
Pdf local people of meghalaya and migrants from neighboring states and even from bangladesh have started mining to survive, putting increased pressure. The court also directed the central governments pollution control board, one of indias principal environmental regulators, to work with the meghalaya pollution control board to inspect the coal mines and submit a comprehensive report with regard to carrying on mining activity in various places of state of meghalaya particularly in. Indian coal mining in meghalaya fully manual processing. Mining ban, moving allowed, in between the tragedy since 2014 ban, ngt teams report illegal mining in meghalaya, local officials say no way to check if coal is old or new. Formerly this project was also known as domiasiat uranium mining project. Looking at satellite snapshots showing replacement of forested areas with bare earth, everyone can easily infer that mining industries are driving force of deforestation figure 2 sarma et al. Dec 27, 2018 the ban on coal mining by ngt in meghalaya was one of the major issue in assembly election held early this year. The natural caves found in jaintia hills are a storehouse of geological treasures.
Surface and subsoil rights, procedures and regulatory framework keywords. Despite a ban on rathole mining in meghalaya from 2014, the. Rathole mining is the locally developed technique and the most commonly used one. The state accounts for 16 per cent of indias uranium reserves, with deposits estimated to be around 9,500 tones and 4,000 tones respectively at domiasiat and wakhyn, both in west khasi hills region. The statistical data presented in this publication were sourced collected from various. The national green tribunal on friday decided to carry on with the ban on coal mining in meghalaya while also forming a new committee to decide on the transportation of extracted coal lying in coal quarries and depots after the committee submits its report after two weeks. Relentless mining in meghalaya, india kiranmay sarma1 and pramod k. National green tribunal coal mining in meghalaya 1. It deferred its order regarding pleas for allowing transportation of extracted and assessed coal. Pdf coal is the most abundantly available fossible fuel in india and meets a substantial part of energy needs of the country. Nayak, b and bhattacharyya, k k 2008 coal mining in meghalaya a boon or bane.
So despite a ban, rathole mining remains the prevalent procedure for coal mining in meghalaya. The meghalaya mines and mineral policy, 2012 is being formulated with a focused mission of sustainable and ecofriendly growth of mineral deposits and mineral based industries with due regard to environment, conservation as well. Trapped meghalaya miners are the latest victims of years. A case study in jaintia hills district of meghalaya, india ii abstract mining causes massive damage to landscape and biological communities.