The Meghalaya government has acknowledged that the massive scale of coal mining operations in the state, particularly in East Jaintia Hills, has made effective monitoring and enforcement against illegal mining extremely challenging. Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said the 37th Interim Report of the Justice (Retd.) B.P. Katakey Committee had pointed out continued illegal coal extraction and transportation despite court restrictions. However, he maintained that the government remains committed to implementing all court directives. “The report itself mentions that East Jaintia Hills alone has around 22,000 mines. This makes continuous monitoring extremely difficult with the existing manpower and administrative setup,” Sangma said.
He explained that even if enforcement teams monitor 5,000 to 6,000 locations at a time, thousands of other mining sites remain unchecked. By the time teams move to new areas, mining activities often resume in places that had already been inspected earlier. Describing the situation as highly complex, the Chief Minister said the government is making sincere efforts to tackle the issue. He added that additional manpower has been deployed from other districts to strengthen enforcement in East Jaintia Hills and nearby areas. The remarks came in response to findings by the one-man committee headed by Justice (Retd.) B.P. Katakey. According to the report, illegal coal mining and transportation continue in parts of Meghalaya despite directions issued by the Supreme Court, Meghalaya High Court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
The report stated that enforcement agencies had seized 18,479.826 metric tonnes of coal and 47 vehicles allegedly involved in illegal activities.The committee also reported finding large quantities of freshly mined coal, active mining sites, tools, machinery and the alleged use of explosives at several locations. So far, the enforcement drive has led to the issuance of 33 notices and the arrest of 29 individuals in connection with illegal coal mining and transportation cases.
