"No doubt local officials are involved": Meghalaya High Court calls in Central Armed Police Forces to curb illegal coal mining

The Meghalaya High Court on Tuesday ordered the deployment of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to monitor and stop illegal coal mining in the State. [In Re Suo Motu Illegal Mining of Coal in the State of Meghalaya].A Full Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justices HS Thangkhiew and W Diengdoh said that given the abundance of rain in the region and limestone being prone to water erosion, there was a tragedy waiting to happen in the aftermath of unscientific extraction of coal and limestone."Without intending to sound apocalyptic or seeking to toll the knell of an imminent doomsday, it takes no rocket science to realise that the recipe is ripe for disaster. The pot is on the boil and it is brewing a calamitous broth. Yet the lure of a quick buck prompts the sentinel to look the other way," the Court said..The Court was hearing a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) on the practice of illegal coal mining that has continued unabated in the State.It said that the State not fulfilling its obligation of checking illegal activity was contrary to the rule of law."It is only upon each discovery of illegal activity being made by this Court that the State responds by assuring the Court that steps would be taken to dismantle the illegal machinery; but the illegal activity mushrooms somewhere else and the State awaits the Court’s further direction before undertaking the work that the State itself is obliged to take up. It is a really sorry state of affairs and an affront to the rule of law," the order stated..Considering that the State had fallen short despite being afforded a year to take appropriate measures, the Court deemed it necessary to call in the CAPF to monitor and stop the illegal mining."In the current scenario and considering that the State has been afforded nearly a year to take appropriate measures and the measures adopted by the State have fallen woefully short, it is necessary to call in the Central Armed Police Forces to monitor and stop the illegal activities pertaining to coal mining that continues in the State," it said..Former Gauhati High Court judge, Justice BP Katakey, who was earlier appointed to head a committee to advise the State government on the issue, was tasked by the Court with overseeing the disposal of previously mined coal and to ensure that recently illegally mined coal was not passed off as previously mined coal.He filed a report on February 6, referring to illegal coal mining and the steps taken by him pursuant to a newspaper report depicting how three mine workers had reportedly died inside a coal mine in Rymbai in the East Jaintia Hills district.The report stated that 31 cases of illegal extraction of coal were were registered in December 2022 and January 2023 alone, and that even the rough estimates of the quantity of seized coal has not been indicated in any case. It also stated that autopsy reports of the deceased mine workers were awaited..The Court said that if 31 cases had come to light, several must have been overlooked or may not have come to notice. Further, it said that the failure of local authorities to indicate the approximate quantity of seized coal left room for manipulation, which indicated that they were involved in such manipulation."For a start, if 31 cases of illegal transportation have come to light, there must have been several multiples more of illegal transportation that may either have been actively overlooked or may not have come to the notice of the appropriate personnel. Secondly, the failure to even indicate the approximate quantity of the seized coal leaves room for manipulation and there is no doubt that the local officials are involved in such manipulation.".Further, the Court said the State failing to fulfil its duty of providing alternative livelihoods or temporary support to citizens affected by the ban on unscientific coal mining indicated a lack of seriousness on its part in addressing the issue..Hence, it directed the deployment of CAPF personnel and requested Deputy Solicitor General Dr N Mozika to take notice on behalf of the Central government. He was asked to inform the Court on February 14 about the steps taken for deployment of sufficient units of either the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) or the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to completely take over the policing of illegal coal mining activities.The cost of the deployment would have to be borne by the State "for its abject inefficiency," the Court added..Advocate General Amit Kumar, Senior Advocates MZ Ahmed and B Dutta, Senior Government Advocate K Khan and Advocates R Colney, A Pradhan and N Syngkon appeared for the State..In February last year, the Court had taken suo motu cognisance of a newspaper article highlighting the prevalence of rat-hole mining in the State's West Khasi Hills district.The Shillong Times article gave a detailed description of how in the Nengchigen village bordering the South Garo Hills District, 'rat-hole mining” was happening in a widespread manner. It mentioned that a complaint has been lodged by the Nokma (village headman) of Nengchigen against certain persons, including the police, on illegal mining in clan lands.Rat-hole mining is a practice of excavation in Meghalaya where miners go through narrow horizontal tunnels about 150 metres dug against deep vertical shafts.Coal mining in Meghalaya is being restored in a limited capacity in phases, after the Supreme Court in 2019 set aside a 2014 order of the National Green Tribunal that ordered a blanket ban on coal mining in the State..[Read Order]