Shillong, February 9: Three days after the deadliest mining disaster in Meghalaya’s history and following a stern directive from the High Court of Meghalaya, authorities in East Jaintia Hills district have intensified enforcement to impose a complete ban on illegal coal mining.
Five enforcement teams comprising Executive Magistrates, police personnel and officials of the Directorate of Mineral Resources (DMR) conducted coordinated operations across multiple locations in the district. During the raids, authorities seized 3,197 metric tonnes (MT) of illegally mined coal from nine locations under Umlawang and 351 MT from four locations under Umthe.
In a separate operation earlier on Friday, enforcement teams confiscated 3,356 MT of coal from eight locations along the Sakhain–Thangsko road, along with tools and equipment used for illegal mining. With additional seizures of 153.4 MT and 22.3 MT from two other sites, the total quantity of coal seized so far has crossed 10,000 MT, officials said.
Explosives linked to unlawful mining activities were also recovered. Police seized 63 detonators from Umpleng Bazar, leading to the arrest of three persons, while a carton containing 204 gelatine sticks was recovered from Rangad. Several makeshift camps associated with illegal mining operations were identified and dismantled.
East Jaintia Hills Superintendent of Police Vikash Kumar said 30 cases related to illegal coal mining, transportation and dumping have been registered so far, with more FIRs and legal action in progress.
To maintain law and order and facilitate enforcement, the District Magistrate imposed prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) in affected areas. Similar orders have also been enforced in West Jaintia Hills district, strictly banning illegal rat-hole mining, transport of coal without valid documentation and related activities.
Meanwhile, no additional bodies were recovered on Sunday from the site of the devastating dynamite explosion at an illegal rat-hole coal mine in the Mynsngat–Thangsko area. The confirmed death toll remains at 27.
Search and rescue operations are continuing with teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Special Rescue Team (SRT), police and district administration. East Jaintia Hills Deputy Commissioner Manish Kumar said rescue efforts would resume to ensure complete coverage of the site, but noted that the absence of records in unauthorised mining operations made it difficult to ascertain how many people were inside the mine at the time of the blast. Migrant workers at the site have indicated that around 17 persons may still be trapped, though this remains unverified.
Nine injured survivors have been identified as Raju Tamang, Jamil Ahmed, Deb Malakar, Lalit Magar, Mon Bahadur, Dawa Sherpa, Korna Mondal, Shanki Shylla and Ramesh Basnet. Thirteen bodies recovered from the Thangsko site were brought to Shillong Civil Hospital for post-mortem examinations. Authorities have disbursed ₹24 lakh as compensation to the families of eight victims so far, with further payments pending submission of required documents.
Separately, the 35th interim report of the Justice (retd) B. P. Katakey Committee has once again flagged large-scale irregularities in coal stockpiles across Meghalaya. The report revealed that 37,449.53 MT of coal is missing following a “reaching-out” exercise conducted after an aerial survey of coal dumps in four districts.
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The aerial survey by M/s Garuda UAV Soft Solutions Pvt. Ltd. detected 1,92,840.13 MT of coal across 1,898 dumps. However, district administrations could account for only 1,55,390.6 MT in 1,889 dumps, leaving a substantial shortfall. East Jaintia Hills alone accounted for a discrepancy of 36,360.48 MT, while shortages were also reported in West Khasi Hills, South West Khasi Hills and South Garo Hills.
The committee has recommended immediate transportation of recovered coal to designated depots to prevent further losses, followed by auction after obtaining court approval. It also called for FIRs to be registered in all cases involving the missing coal and for expedited investigations to ensure accountability.
Authorities said enforcement and investigations will continue across Meghalaya as the state grapples with the aftermath of the tragedy and renewed scrutiny of illegal coal mining practices.
