Meghalaya orders fresh inspection after 4,000 MT of coal goes ‘missing’

The Meghalaya government has informed the High Court that it has ordered a fresh inspection of coal dump sites in two villages of South West Khasi Hills after nearly 4,000 metric tonnes of coal detected in an aerial survey could not be accounted for during ground verification.

In an affidavit submitted on Monday, the state said a final report would be ready within a month. The direction follows a probe initiated by the district deputy commissioner in compliance with a July 24 High Court order linked to a PIL filed in 2022.

A three-member committee of senior officials, formed to investigate the discrepancy, concluded that it was “highly improbable” for such a large quantity of coal to vanish without detection. The committee attributed the mismatch to incomplete information, environmental challenges and the absence of geotagged coordinates, rather than negligence.

According to the Meghalaya Basin Development Agency’s (MBDA) aerial survey, 2,121.62 MT of coal was recorded in Diengngan village and 1,839.03 MT in Rajaju village. But ground verification teams found only 2.5 MT and 8 MT respectively. The committee has recommended a fresh inspection with precise GPS mapping provided by MBDA to avoid further errors.

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The report also flagged persistent risks of cross-border coal smuggling and called for stronger surveillance, tighter enforcement, and better inter-agency coordination. The deputy commissioner has since clarified that earlier figures were based on incomplete datasets, and with updated information now available, verification will be carried out again.

Meanwhile, former excise minister Kyrmen Shylla triggered outrage after joking that the missing coal may have been “washed away by the rains into Bangladesh.” His remarks were sharply condemned by civil society groups, opposition parties and citizens, who branded the comments “absurd” and “irresponsible,” accusing him of trivialising a serious governance lapse.

The controversy comes against the backdrop of a long-standing ban. In 2014, the National Green Tribunal prohibited unscientific coal mining in Meghalaya, particularly rat-hole mining, citing grave environmental and safety risks. The ban extended to transportation of illegally mined coal, though limited exceptions were permitted under court supervision.

Despite this, multiple probes, including those by High Court-appointed panels, have revealed that illegal coal mining and transport persist across the state. In November 2023, a court panel confirmed rat-hole mining was still underway, in direct violation of the NGT ban.

The High Court is continuing to monitor the matter as part of ongoing efforts to enforce environmental regulations and ensure transparency in coal mining operations in Meghalaya.