Meghalaya MP calls for legalization of rat hole coal mining

Meghalaya Coal Mining

SHILLONG: Demanding the legalization of coal rat mining, Rajya Sabha MP from Meghalaya WR Kharlukhi asked why people who depend on it should suffer due to “policy failure”.

Kharlakhi, state president of the ruling NPP in Meghalaya, said he was aware of the negative impact of rat hole mining on the environment but needed to see what was more important – human life or “other concerns”.
“Why should my people have to bear the brunt of policy failure?” He told reporters on Wednesday.

“There are times when we should look at what is more valuable – human lives or other concerns.

If you say human life is not valuable, fine. Or if you think we tribals are not valuable, fine. But don’t hang our people like this,” he added.
Rat hole mining involves digging narrow tunnels, usually 3-4 feet high, for workers to enter and extract the coal. Horizontal tunnels are often called “rat holes”, because each one fits one person.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had banned rat mining of coal in 2014, calling it unscientific.

According to government reports, the coal mining industry was among the top revenue earners for the state, earning about Rs 700 crore annually before the ban in 2014.

The NGT cited safety of miners as one of the reasons for banning coal mining in the state. Despite the ban, illegal mining has led to several accidents in the past few years.

Kharlakhi said the Center has done nothing to start scientific mining. “They should show that they are at least interested.”

He said that he will raise this issue in Parliament.
“If the government can’t do this (frame policy), then you have to allow them to continue mining (using the rat hole mining method),” he said.

“For 40 years, rat hole mining was allowed and only now they realized that it is harmful. Did they not know that rat mining is going on in Meghalaya? He has to suffer through no fault of his own,” he said.
The lawmaker suggested that the government should conduct a study to assess whether open-cast mining is feasible in the state.

He claimed that the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government in the state, of which the BJP is also a part, is trying its best to lift the ban through legal means.