GUWAHATI The High Court of Meghalaya has asked the State government to find out how 3,950.15 metric tonnes (MT) of illegally mined coal vanished from two coal depots.
The missing coal was highlighted in the 31st interim report submitted to the court on Thursday (July 24, 2025) by Justice B.P. Katakey, a retired judge appointed a few years ago to monitor coal mining and transportation issues in Meghalaya.
According to the report, the Meghalaya Basin Development Authority (MBDA) recorded 3,960.95 MT of coal at the designated depots in Diengngan and Rajaju villages some time ago. Diengngan is in the Ri-Bhoi and Rajaju in the West Khasi Hills districts, respectively.
However, during a recent inspection by the district authorities, only 2.5 MT of coal with residue was found instead of the inventoried 1.839.03 MT.
Similarly, only 8 MT of coal with residue was found at the Rajaju depot against 2,121.62 MT of coal recorded by the MBDA earlier. The missing volume worked out to 3,950.15 MT.
In an order on Thursday (July 24, 2025), a division bench of Justice H.S. Thangkhiew and Justice W. Diengdoh said it was a matter of concern that the illegally mined coal had been lifted and transported by unknown people
The court directed the State government to тАЬtake urgent action and hold accountable the persons or officials, under whose watchтАЭ this was allowed to happen. It also asked the government to trace the people who lifted the coal illegally.
The court observed that the government filed a status report on the steps taken with regard to illegally mined coal in another district (South Garo Hills) and the disappearance of coal from the two depots, but did not provide any information other than indicating that FIRs had been lodged.
The National Green Tribunal banned the hazardous rat-hole coal mining in April 2014, but organisations in Meghalaya claim this did not stop the illegal mining and transportation of the fossil fuel.
The ineffectiveness of the ban has been evident from several mishaps in the rat-hole mines, killing at least 40 miners in over a decade. High wages draw miners, mostly from Assam, to these mines.
Surveyors have also found that the volume of inventoried coal in some depots did not decrease even after their auction and transportation from time to time. This was because the stock continued to be replenished by coal mined freshly and illegally.
Published – July 26, 2025 03:50 am IST
