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Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma inaugurated Meghalaya’s first ‘scientific coal mining’ project at Byndihati in the East Jaintia Hills district on March 17, 10 years since the National Green Tribunal (NGT) imposed a ban on coal mining in 2014. Activists and environmentalists have expressed their reservations about the state government’s plans to restart coal mining, accusing the National Peoples’ Party government of playing into the hands of corporate interests.
Sangma inaugurated Saryngkham-A mine, terming the move to restart mining a ‘historic development’. “After almost a decade of ban on coal mining, we have today inaugurated the first scientific coal mine in East Jaintia hills.… truly a historic and red-letter day for the people of Meghalaya,” Sangma posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. “The journey wasn’t easy. It was like moving through uncharted territory, not knowing what challenges would come up in front of us while we moved forward,” he later told the media.
In January 2025, the Union Ministry of Coal approved three coal mining leases: Saryngkham-A and Lumia-khi-Wah Sarang in East Jaintia Hills and Pyndeng-shalang in West Khasi Hills. Three escrow agreements were signed between Coal Controller, Government of India and private project developers. Sangma congratulated mine owners in the state for making the shift to ‘scientific mining’ from the age-old rat-hole method that claimed over 30 lives in Meghalaya according to the proceedings in the NGT following the tribunal outlawing the technique.
Before the ban, Meghalaya was earning around Rs 700 crore annually from coal mining, according to Sangma. However, the Supreme Court of India lifted the ban in 2019 following which ‘scientific mining’ using the open cast technique was proposed. Over the years, the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute, Union Ministry of Coal, Government of Meghalaya and other regulatory bodies framed a policy to resume coal mining in the state. According to the Department of Mining, Meghalaya, 12 more applications for mining are under process.
The mining project at Saryngkham-A, categorised as ‘B1’ according to the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification, is spread over 148 hectares and valued at Rs 27 crore. It is estimated to have a reserve of 0.45 million tonnes of coal which will be extracted in seven years, according to the draft EIA.
The open cast method would be used to extract coal from multiple seams with varying thickness ranging from 0.10 metres to 1.42 metres and attaining a maximum depth of 60 metres (around 196 feet) from the surface by mining an area of 24 hectares, according to the draft EIA report.
An additional period of five years has been allotted to the mine owner, Dapmain Shylla, for mine reclamation in the post-closure period. The mine owner has been asked to deposit Rs 1.5 crore for environmental mitigation under the Corporate Environment Responsibility (CER) programme of the ministry. Under the CER programme, native trees with high air pollution tolerance index scores will be planted by the proponent.
While the EIA shows that there are no protected forests or human settlements in the mine lease area, it is surrounded by 54 villages with 13,162 hectares of forests and 5,783.49 hectares of agricultural land. As for waterbodies, the Wahkhian and Rashiang rivers drain the area. The Wahkhian, a tributary of the Wailong river, flows along the southern boundary of the coal block. The project proponent will be using around 180 kilolitres of water daily from various sources in the vicinity of the mine, which will treated in an effluent treatment plant.
The state government’s move has, however, come under fire from environmental activists in Meghalaya. Citing the NGT’s recent findings which showed that around 24,000 illegal rat-hole mines were operational, environmental activist Agnes Kharshiing said Meghalaya does not have a blueprint to conduct coal mining operations.
“Coal mining has devastated Meghalaya’s health and environment. The state’s people consider it a curse as it has led to diseases like tuberculosis. Waterbodies and rivers have been laid waste by coal mining syndicates. The size of the new mine will devastate an area equal to 400 playgrounds, will impact agriculture, rivers and the health of people. When illegal mines were operated, they would go down to more than 500 feet to mine coal and here we are saying that the maximum depth will be 200 feet, which shows that the state government has no blueprint on restarting mining,” Kharshiing told Down to Earth.
The decision to restart mining activity, according to the activist, does not consider that Meghalaya lost around 60,914 hectares of its forests — about three per cent of the total land area — to illegal coal mining. The finding of an NGT-appointed committee led by retired Gauhati High Court judge B P Katakey showed that close to 24,000 illegal rat-hole coal mines were still operational in the state by the end of 2024.
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