The Meghalaya government has informed the High Court that it has ordered a fresh verification of coal dump sites in South West Khasi Hills after nearly 4,000 metric tonnes of coal spotted during an aerial survey could not be traced on the ground. In an affidavit filed on Monday, the state assured that a final report would be submitted within a month.
A three-member committee of senior officials, formed to probe the mismatch, found it “highly improbable” that such a large volume of coal could disappear unnoticed, attributing the inconsistency to incomplete datasets, environmental factors and the absence of geotagged coordinates. The committee also highlighted continued risks of illegal cross-border coal smuggling, recommending stronger surveillance and inter-agency enforcement.
Meanwhile, former minister Kyrmen Shylla drew widespread criticism after quipping that the missing coal may have been “washed away by rains into Bangladesh,” remarks denounced by civil society groups and opposition parties as “absurd” and “irresponsible.”
The case comes amid continued judicial scrutiny of Meghalaya’s coal sector, where despite a 2014 NGT ban on unscientific mining and transport, multiple inquiries have confirmed the persistence of illegal rat-hole mining. The High Court has said it will keep monitoring the matter to ensure transparency and enforcement of environmental safeguards.
