Meghalaya HC Demands Action Over 3,950 MT Missing Coal

### Quick Summary
– The Meghalaya High Court raised concerns over 3,950.15 metric tonnes (MT) of illegally mined coal vanishing from two depots in Diengngan (Ri-Bhoi district) and Rajaju (West Khasi Hills district).
– Justice B.P. Katakey’s 31st interim report revealed discrepancies between earlier records by the Meghalaya Basin Advancement Authority (MBDA) and recent inspections:
– At Diengngan depot,only 2.5 MT was found instead of the recorded 1,839.03 MT.
– At Rajaju depot, only 8 MT remained compared to an earlier inventory of 2,121.62 MT.
– The division bench of justices H.S. Thangkhiew and W.Diengdoh directed the State government to urgently investigate these discrepancies and hold officials accountable for permitting the disappearance.
– FIRs have been lodged regarding similar cases elsewhere but without substantive progress on actionable outcomes.
– Illegal rat-hole coal mining continues to operate despite a National Green tribunal ban from April 2014; high wages lure miners into unsafe conditions that have caused approximately 40 deaths over a decade.

—

### Indian Opinion Analysis
The issue underscores long-standing governance challenges around regulating coal mining in Meghalaya-a state where illegal operations persist despite judicial interventions like bans imposed by the National Green Tribunal in 2014. The court’s demand for accountability is important as it urges openness in tracking inventoried resources linked to environmental damage and economic exploitation.

Aside from evident safety violations due to rat-hole mining practices leading to fatalities over time, this case spotlights systemic loopholes that enable covert operations involving resource mismanagement at local depots-potentially tied either directly or indirectly with corruption or poor oversight mechanisms at various administrative levels.How effectively stakeholders address these missing inventory records under judicial scrutiny may reflect broader implications for environmental governance across India’s resource-rich regions vulnerable to illegal mining activities.

*Read more:* ``