Mining & Floods

Even as people of three upper Assam districts are struggling to recover from the recent unprecedented flash floods, news of a significant development in coal mining in Meghalaya has come as an important coincidence. Haphazard coal mining inside Nagaland and indiscriminate extraction of rocks, boulders and sand from riverbeds close to the Naga hills inside Assam have led to massive destruction of hills and riverbeds, which in turn caused the unprecedented deluge in upper Assam. In Meghalaya, on the other hand, a committee headed by retired Justice B. P. Katakey and appointed by the Meghalaya High Court last week asked the state government to urgently launch a statewide initiative to stop illegal mining and transport of coal, apart from framing a policy to shut and secure all abandoned rat-hole mines. Media reports quoting the Committee’s 39th Interim Report submitted to the Meghalaya High Court have stated that its earlier direction for a comprehensive action plan to tackle illegal mining and transport of coal has not been implemented yet. In this context, it’s important to remember that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned the harmful “rat-hole” coal mining in Meghalaya on April 17, 2014, after a complaint from the All Dimasa Students’ Union of Assam, which said that illegal coal mining in Meghalaya had severely damaged the environment and polluted rivers in Dima Hasao district. The NGT, while banning illegal and unscientific coal mining, also asked Meghalaya to evolve an appropriate scheme and statutory rules to regulate coal mining. Media reports from Shillong have indicated that the Katakey Committee Report says the Meghalaya government has not implemented the suggested mine-closure policy, there are major issues with coal industry monitoring in the state, and a full action plan is still pending. The state faces significant challenges in monitoring coal industries, despite the absence of a comprehensive action plan. It must be recalled that illegal rat-hole coal mining did stop soon after the NGT order in 2014, though recent reports, which are also reflected in the Katakey Committee report, clearly indicate that such mining has resumed, albeit at a lower scale. The upper Assam floods caused by the rivers originating in Nagaland can be seen in the light of the Meghalaya development. While illegal, unscientific and indiscriminate coal mining in Meghalaya had only polluted rivers (some of which flow down to Dima Hasao district in Assam), there is now no doubt that illegal, unscientific and indiscriminate destruction of hills inside Nagaland and similar activities in riverbeds inside Assam were solely responsible for the devastation suffered by the Charaideo, Sivasagar and Jorhat districts last month. The Annual Administrative Report 2024-2025 from the Department of Soil & Water Conservation in Nagaland clearly stated that the uncontrolled growth of rat-hole and open-cast coal mining in Nagaland, especially in the Wokha, Mon, Mokokchung, Longleng, and Tuensang districts, has caused significant damage to the environment in the state. The report also highlighted the concerning impact of Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) from abandoned mines, which has severely contaminated water sources and devastated ecosystems. The report noted the acidification of surface water and the leaching of heavy metals into underground water pose serious risks to aquatic life and human consumption. It is in these Nagaland districts that the rivers of Charaideo, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat and Karbi Anglong districts of Assam originate. There have been reports in the recent past about the alleged deterioration of water quality, including a change in colour, in the Dikhow, Jhanji and Bhogdoi rivers. Another issue with direct relevance and connection to the upper Assam floods is the drastic loss of forest cover. The significant loss of forest cover in Nagaland in recent years is directly related to the upper Assam floods. According to the India State of Forest Reports (ISFR) prepared and published by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), the Government of India, Nagaland, lost approximately 794.88 sq km of forest cover over a 10-year period (2013-23), ranking among the highest rates of forest and tree cover decline in the country. Of the total, 125.22 sq km of forest cover was lost during the 2019–2023 period alone, with the ISFR placing it fourth highest in national forest loss. Also important to note, a study conducted by Nagaland University scholars has said that severe topsoil erosion in Nagaland averages 30.62 tonnes per hectare annually, which is three times India’s national average. Roughly 70% of the state’s hilly terrain is vulnerable. Heavy monsoon rains, steep slopes, deforestation, and traditional shifting (jhum) cultivation drive this crisis, which degrades land stability, triggers downstream floods, and harms rural livelihoods. While the Assam government is yet to take up this issue with the Nagaland government, there does not seem to be any difficulty whatsoever for the National Green Tribunal – and for that matter any court of law – to take up the matter, suo moto, in view of the massive devastation floods caused in upper Assam, including the loss of over 100 human lives.