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Justice (Retd) B.P. Katakey has expressed sharp dissatisfaction over the East Jaintia Hills administration’s slow pace of physical verification of illegal coal dumps, warning that vast quantities could go missing if the current approach continues. Out of 1,572 coal dumps containing more than 1.8 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of illegally mined coal, the district has managed to physically verify only 57 dumps in three and a half months, leaving the bulk of the coal stock unchecked and vulnerable. Speaking after a review meeting of multiple districts, he said the East Jaintia Hills administration had verified only a fraction of the 1.8 lakh MT of illegal coal identified in the area, raising serious concerns about potential large-scale disappearance of the mineral.
Justice Katakey said, “I am not satisfied with the pace in which the physical verification is being done by East Jaintia Hills. I will go by the Garuda report only because whatever is found by Garuda—if the actual physical verification does not tally with the quantum of coal found by Garuda—then the district administration is answerable to that.”
He explained that the Meghalaya Basin Development Agency (MBDA) had not conducted surveys in districts other than East Jaintia Hills, South Garo Hills, and West Khasi Hills. In South Garo Hills, only 35.01 MT of coal was recorded, while West Khasi Hills had 11,707.99 MT across 280 dumps. The Deputy Commissioner of West Khasi Hills informed him that all 280 dumps had been physically verified, confirming the presence of coal, although quantities could not be measured due to the absence of experts at the time. This quantification, he said, would be completed after the monsoon in September or October.
“In West Khasi Hills, they have verified all 280 dumps and there is coal in every one of them,” he noted. “That is in respect of West Khasi Hills District. This is illegal coal mine.”
In contrast, he pointed out, East Jaintia Hills—where over 1.8 lakh MT of illegal coal is stored in 1,572 dumps—had completed verification of only 57 dumps. “In those 57 dumps, Garuda had recorded around 440 MT of illegally mined coal. However, during verification, only around 140 MT was found, meaning about 300 MT is missing. There has to be some action taken in respect of that,” he stressed.
Justice Katakey warned that if the current pace continues, it will take years to cover all 1,572 dumps, with a strong possibility of more missing coal. He said, “Imagine the time they will require to visit 1,572 coal dumps which contain more than 1.8 lakh MT of illegally mined coal. There is a possibility of missing coal in respect of other dumps also.”
The meeting, attended by representatives from East Jaintia Hills, West Khasi Hills, South West Khasi Hills, and South Garo Hills, also addressed action on the 1.92 lakh MT of illegally mined coal identified by Garuda and MBDA.
Another key issue discussed was applications filed by individuals claiming that their coal stocks had been excluded from the 2019 affidavit to the Supreme Court. “In one application, they say that almost one lakh MT of coal was available with them as part of the inventoried coal, but Garuda did not cover their areas during the survey. Therefore, please include our coal as part of the reassessed reverified inventoried coal,” he said.
Justice Katakey said he had ordered verification of these claims, and the process had been completed. Out of 22 applicants, only one was found to have a genuine claim, amounting to 400 MT of coal.
He added that his next report to the High Court would be submitted before August 25, following further review.
