By Shanbor Wahlang
In April 2014, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered a complete stop to rat-hole coal mining in Meghalaya. Rat-hole mining involves digging narrow tunnels by hand and using primitive tools to extract coal. In Meghalaya, many families and clans had been mining coal from their own land for generations. The ban came as a major shock.
The court acted because of real problems. Rivers downstream from coal-mining areas were turning acidic. Open pits were left across the hills. Miners worked in dangerous, narrow tunnels without safety measures. Most people agreed that the old method was harmful. But there was no clear answer to what would replace it.
The ban did not remove people’s need for income from coal. Families who depended on small-scale mining, including landowners, workers and truck drivers, lost their livelihoods. The state government also lost a significant source of revenue through royalties, cess and taxes. Where mining continued illegally, the human cost was high. In December 2018, 15 miners were trapped and died in a flooded pit at Ksan in East Jaintia Hills. This showed that the problem was not only about money.
In July 2019, the Supreme Court clarified the legal position. Meghalaya is a Sixth Schedule state, where land and minerals beneath it are owned by individuals, clans or communities. The Court recognised these ownership rights while making it clear that mining must comply with national laws governing minerals, safety and environmental protection. The question was no longer simply whether mining could restart. It was how it could resume legally.
Creating a legal system almost from scratch was difficult. Legal mining required mining plans, approvals from the Centre, environmental and safety clearances, and a minimum concession area of 100 hectares under the prescribed procedure. The process was slow, and many criticised it. But scientific mining eventually began. In early 2025, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma announced the start of legal coal mining in Meghalaya after more than a decade. Four mines had received permissions. By August 2025, the Union Ministry of Coal had confirmed that production had begun in two coal blocks. Many people had thought legal mining would never happen in Meghalaya. It has.
Small miners seek a place in the legal system
Even while announcing this progress, the Chief Minister said the next step was to include small miners. He has said that about nine out of ten miners in the state are small miners.
The reason is simple: coal seams in Meghalaya are thin and scattered. Coal is held in small family or clan plots, not in large blocks like in other states. Large, continuous areas of 100 hectares are rare and are almost never owned by one person. Because of the 100-hectare requirement, most genuine small coal owners have been left outside the legal system. A small owner also cannot afford to keep travelling to Delhi and the Indian Bureau of Mines office in Kolkata to seek approvals for a small deposit.
Through 2026, the demand for change grew stronger in the coal areas. Associations representing coal owners, miners, suppliers and workers in Jaiñtia Hills began an indefinite hunger strike in June. One of their leaders was hospitalised after more than two weeks without food, and another member took his place. The state government formed a committee, including the Deputy Commissioner and miners’ representatives, to draft a policy for small-scale mining and examine whether the minimum area required for a mining lease could be reduced. The Chief Minister met the miners and took up their case himself.
On July 7, 2026, accompanied by Santa Mary Shylla, MLA of Sutnga Saipung, he met Union Minister of Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy in New Delhi. He asked the Centre to delegate powers to the state government under Section 26 of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, to grant prior approvals and approve coal mining plans. This would help small tribal coal owners obtain legal permissions within Meghalaya itself. He submitted a formal representation and a detailed note. He also reminded the Minister that the Ministry of Coal had agreed in principle to Meghalaya’s request as far back as 2015.
A committee was subsequently formed to examine the matter. In August, while replying to a discussion in the Assembly, the Chief Minister said the Centre had agreed to examine the possibility of relaxing the rules. He expressed hope that the 100-hectare requirement would be reduced substantially, to an area that small miners could manage. He also said the committee would visit Meghalaya. Last week, it did.
In early October, A technical team from the Ministry of Coal, the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute, and the Directorate General of Mines Safety, along with officials from Meghalaya’s Directorate of Mineral Resources, visited coal-bearing areas in East Jaintia Hills and the Khasi Hills. The team examined existing mining methods and discussed with state officials how scientific mining could be adapted to Meghalaya’s geology and landownership pattern. Further technical assessments and meetings are expected in the coming weeks.
It is important to be clear about what this effort represents. It is not a return to the old way of mining. It rests on three things: a smaller mining area suited to small holdings, scientific methods of extraction, and support to bring small miners within the law. The Chief Minister has said he wants mining techniques adapted to local conditions, with safety measures to protect both miners’ lives and the environment. The aim is to bring small miners into a legal, regulated system under state oversight, allowing them to earn a dignified livelihood while ending illegal mining.
Political promises and the expectations of the coal belt
There is now a political side to this story as well. In September, eight MLAs of the United Democratic Party joined the BJP in New Delhi. They publicly said coal mining was among the demands on which they had sought assurances from the BJP’s central leadership before joining. They said they had been told these demands would be addressed before the 2028 Assembly elections. In the coal belt, many people have understood this as a promise that mining will return to normal, as it was before the 2014 ban, without the restrictions that apply today.
So, beyond what the Chief Minister is doing, there is additional hope. With this political shift, and with the MLAs who joined the BJP having made the return of mining one of their conditions, many in the coal belt hope that mining will be restored as it was before, without the restrictions they have faced for the past 12 years. After such a long wait, people have a right to hope and to expect that commitments made during a change of political allegiance will be honoured.
However, the two things should not be confused. The first is a documented process: scientific mining has begun in Meghalaya; a state committee has been formed to examine the concerns of small miners; a representation has been made to the Union Minister; a central committee has been constituted; and a technical team has visited the coal belt. The aim is to find a scientific, regulated path for small miners, including the possibility of reducing the minimum area requirement.
The second is a promise of a different kind: mining as it was before, without restrictions. If that is what was assured, the people of the coal belt will rightly hold those who gave the assurance accountable. If, in the end, the promise turns out to mean the same reduced-area, scientific mining framework, the record will show where that work began and who carried it forward.
For the miner in his village, none of this is abstract. He does not need slogans. He needs to know whether he can work his land again, safely and lawfully, and when. Twelve years after the ban, the effort to find a way forward has gained fresh momentum. The coming months will show which commitment reaches the coal pits first.
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The post Twelve years after the ban: The long road back for Meghalaya’s small miners appeared first on Hub News.