On the morning of February 5, 2026, a dynamite explosion in an illegal coal mine at Mynsyngat in the Thangkso area of East Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya, killed 34 labourers, according to reports so far. The incident raises serious questions about the nature and regulation of mining activities in the state.
Officially permitted coal mining in Meghalaya began only in mid-2025. The Saryngkham coal block in East Jaintia Hills and the Pyndengshahlang coal block in West Khasi Hills were the first mines permitted by the Union Ministry of Coal, beginning production on June 3, 2025 and June 5, 2025, respectively, according to a Press Information Bureau release on August 7, 2025.
So, did coal mining really begin in Meghalaya only in 2025? The answer is no.
Meghalaya has long been known for its ‘rat-hole mining’. This is a primitive method that employs small machinery and manual labour for coal extraction. Due to the provisions of the Sixth Schedule in the Indian Constitution, land across the state belongs to the community rather than to the government or large private companies. As a result, coal mining in Meghalaya has largely been carried out by local landowners on a small scale using primitive methods, unlike the large organised mining operations undertaken by government enterprises or major private corporations.
Consequently, mining processes were largely unscientific, lacking environmental clearance, worker safety measures, or permission from competent authorities. The Justice BP Katakey Committee report in 2018 highlighted these irregularities. Earlier, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had directed a halt to such unscientific mining processes in 2014.
These mining activities had already attracted the attention of the Shillong Bench of the Gauhati High Court when a news report on July 6, 2012 described the deaths of 15 labourers, out of 30 trapped, in a coal mine in South Garo Hills. The court initiated suo motu proceedings and transferred the matter to the tribunal. The NGT subsequently directed the stoppage of rat-hole mining and the transportation of already-mined coal on April 17, 2014.