SHILLONG — The Justice (retired) B.P. Katakey committee has flagged an undisputed shortage of 13,02,456.184 metric tonnes of inventoried coal in Meghalaya and called for a detailed inquiry to establish responsibility.
The finding is part of the committee’s 41st interim report submitted in the long-running case over illegal rat-hole coal mining in the state. According to the report, 32,56,715 tonnes of coal had been inventoried, while only 19,54,258.816 tonnes were physically verified, leaving the large quantity unaccounted for. The committee has sought an inquiry into how the shortage occurred, particularly as the Supreme Court had placed the Meghalaya government in the role of receiver and custodian of the extracted coal.
The panel has also pointed to another unresolved issue. Despite repeated directions to secure abandoned rat-hole mines, not a single abandoned mine has been closed or fenced, leaving mine openings unsecured.
The committee has further raised concerns over illegally mined coal that went missing from locations outside Coal India Limited depots. It recorded 37,449.53 tonnes of such coal as missing. FIRs initially covered only 4,141.83 tonnes, while the remaining 33,307.7 tonnes required further legal action. Although the state later informed the committee that FIRs had been registered for the entire quantity, details of the cases and investigations were still awaited.
The report also referred to a fresh alleged illegal-mining case at Sakhain village in East Jaintia Hills. An FIR was registered on September 3, but the committee noted that the police report did not mention seizure of equipment visible in photographs from the site.
One development noted by the panel was Meghalaya’s September 14 notification revising the procedure for transporting scientifically mined coal.
The revised system includes safeguards intended to prevent illegally mined coal from being transported as legally mined material.
The committee has called for time-bound action on the missing coal, abandoned mines, pending investigations and enforcement mechanisms.
