• In 2014, the National Green Tribunal imposed a ban in Meghalaya on rat-hole mining of coal which is a technique that entails digging small vertical pits to reach the mineral.

Rat hole mining:-

• A rat-hole mine is made by digging pits ranging from 5 to 100 metres into the ground to reach the coal seam. Thereafter, tunnels are made sideways into the seam to extract the coal. Coal seams are reached by excavating the side edge of the hill slopes after which, coal is extracted through a horizontal tunnel. The coal from the tunnel or pit is taken out and dumped on nearby un-mined area from where it is carried to the larger dumping places near highways for its trade and transportation. 
• These rat-hole mines are spread throughout Meghalaya, but are mostly concentrated in the Jaintia Hills, the South Garo Hills, west Khasi hills.

Environmental and human costs of rat-hole mining:-

• Threat to life:-
  1. Recently 13 people have been trapped inside a coal mine in Ksan village in East Jaintia Hills.
• Health impacts:-
  1. Accidents, Mental problems including stress, depression and suicide, Violence related health impacts ,Occupational disease and accidents, Deaths.
  2. During the rainy season, water flooded into the mining areas resulting in death of many individuals including employees/workers.
• Environmental impact:-
  1. In Jaintia Hills large scale forest denudation, scarcity of  water, pollution of air, water and soil and degradation of agricultural lands are some of the conspicuous environmental implications of coal mining .
  2. Air pollution, Biodiversity loss (wildlife, agro-diversity), Food insecurity (crop damage), Global warming, Loss of landscape/aesthetic degradation, Noise pollution, Soil contamination, Soil erosion, Waste overflow, Deforestation and loss of vegetation cover, Surface water pollution / Decreasing water (physico-chemical, biological) quality, Groundwater pollution or depletion, Large-scale disturbance of hydro and geological systems, Reduced ecological / hydrological connectivity.
  3. According to activists rat-hole mining in Meghalaya had caused the water in the Kopili river to turn acidic.
  4. Off road movement of trucks and other vehicles in the area causes further damage to the ecology of the area.

Why rat-hole mining continues in Meghalaya even after the NGT has banned it:-

• Illegal mining:- Activists have often alleged that coal continues to be mined illegally in the state, particularly in the Jaintia Hills, often with the collusion of authorities. 
• Government officials and the police say the relaxations granted by the Supreme court have made it difficult to enforce the ban.
• The green tribunal, too, on several occasions, has caved in to appeals by miners and allowed the transportation of coal that had already been extracted.
• Miners tend to sneak in fresh coal with previously extracted coal.
• The National Green Tribunal’s order banning coal mining in the state notes that it did not follow regulations. Before 2014, coal mining was practically a free for all in Meghalaya so miners, citing the state’s Sixth Schedule status, followed none of the laws that apply to coal extraction in the state.
• The state government was supposed to take steps for environmental restoration, but nothing has been done. The State Government has failed to check illegal mining effectively and has also not framed the mining policy, mining plan and the guidelines as directed under the orders of the Tribunal.
• Coal mining is a means of livelihood for large portion of the population.

Way forward:-

• The order of the tribunal is likely to bring about some serious response from the government and the mining community as it an important economic activity that cannot afford to remain suspended.
• The state has also proclaimed that they are in the process of formulating the concession rules for implementation of the Meghalaya Mines and Mineral Policy, 2012.