3 min readGuwahatiFeb 17, 2026 07:20 AM IST
Over 15,224 MT of illegally mined coal have been seized in a crackdown following the tragedy in an illegal rat-hole mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills earlier this month, in which 33 miners lost their lives, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma told the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly on Monday.
On February 5, an explosion took place in an illegal mine in the Thangkso area of East Jaintia Hills. In the search and rescue operations that took place over the next four days, a total of 24 bodies of miners had been recovered from the mine, and others succumbed to their injuries.
Making a suo motu statement on the incident during the first day of the Budget Session of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, Chief Minister Sangma said that the FIR in connection with the incident is being probed by an SIT headed by the DIG (Eastern Range) and that seven people have been arrested. Additionally, the state government has formed a judicial commission headed by Justice (Retired) R. S. Chauhan, former Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court and Telangana High Court, as Chairperson, with two members — retired IPS officer H. Nongpluh and retired IAS officer Peter Dkhar. The terms of reference of this commission include enquiry into the circumstances leading to the incident; “to submit a comprehensive fact-finding report on the acts and/or omissions of the persons and/or authorities concerned, including any failure to prevent the occurrence of the incident”; to examine the “root causes” of illegal coal mining in the state; and to recommend remedial measures.
A crackdown has been undertaken by the district administration and district police after the incident. On this, Sangma said: “The total quantity of coal seized is 15,224.72 MT as on February 14. The process of dismantling cranes and seizure of machinery used for illegal coal mining has started, with a total of six cranes dismantled till February 13, and the process is still ongoing. These actions are being taken under Section 152 of the BNSS. Further, a total of six vehicles used in illegal transportation of coal have been seized till February 13. Further, the police are also stepping up the use of drones to monitor the activities of illegal coal mining.”
East Jaintia Hills is the district in Meghalaya where illegal mining is most rampant. On the day of the incident itself, the Meghalaya High Court had taken cognisance of it and questioned the DC and SP on “why the situation has been allowed to continue”. The court had noted that in the Justice Katakey Committee — which had been formed by the court in 2022 to monitor illegal coal mining in the state — report filed on January 17, the committee had flagged that East Jaintia Hills is the district most affected by illegal coal mining, where the activity continues to take place on a large scale.
The committee had also flagged an incident that took place less than a month ago, on January 14, in the same Thangkso area, in which a miner died while working in another illegal mine.
