The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly on Wednesday unanimously passed a Government Resolution against mining of uranium in the State, formally placing the House on record against any uranium mining operation or uranium ore processing facility anywhere in Meghalaya. Moving the resolution, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said the State Government would take the matter forward with the Union Government and press for a complete bar on uranium mining and processing in the State, including the proposed Kylleng-Pyndengsohiong Mawthabah Uranium Mining Project.
Sangma said the resolution was intended to convey a clear and united position of the State Government, the Assembly and the people of Meghalaya on the contentious issue.
“We will be taking this resolution and we’ll be moving forward to the Union government and urging them to ensure that no mining activity Of uranium nor the processing of uranium should take place in any part of the state in any way they may think of doing so, so it’s a very simple yet a very, very important resolution,” the CM said.
The resolution records the opposition of the people of Meghalaya to uranium mining and the establishment of any uranium ore processing facility in the State. It urges the Government of India, the Department of Atomic Energy and the Uranium Corporation of India Limited not to permit, pursue or undertake any uranium mining operation in Meghalaya, including under the Kylleng-Pyndengsohiong Mawthahah Uranium Mining Project.
Sangma said the issue had remained a matter of concern among different sections of society for a long time and that the Government considered it necessary to make Meghalaya’s position explicit.
“We strongly felt that a resolution must be brought to clearly send a message In one voice that the state of Meghalaya, its people, its government and its elected members oppose any kind of activity related to Mining of uranium or processing of uranium in our state,” Sangma said
The resolution invokes the constitutional safeguards applicable to Meghalaya’s tribal areas under the Sixth Schedule and cites the Supreme Court’s July 3, 2019, judgment have clearly held that in Meghalaya the private owners of the land as well as community owners have both the surface right as well as sub soil right and thus the tribals in the state owned the land and also owned the minerals
It also points to the identification of uranium-bearing minerals in Domiasiat, Wahkyn and Lostoin areas of the West Khasi Hills and South West Khasi Hills districts and notes that the proposed project envisages open-cast mining and an ore processing plant.
He further said, the area receives exceptionally high rainfall, is of steep terrain and is susceptible to landslides, forms the catchment of streams and rivers supporting drinking water, agriculture, fisheries and livelihoods.
The resolution also states that traditional institutions, Autonomous District Councils, student and civil society organisations and elected representatives have consistently opposed uranium mining, while the free, prior and informed consent of affected communities has not been obtained and no uranium mining lease has been granted in the State.
It further takes note of the September 8, 2025, Office Memorandum of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change exempting certain atomic mineral mining projects from public consultation under the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006.
The resolution also refers to the statement made by the Union Minister of State in charge of the Department of Atomic Energy in Shillong that no decision had been taken on uranium mining in Meghalaya and that the matter remained under examination.
Sangma said Meghalaya’s constitutional and legal safeguards were intended to protect the State’s people and land.
“And as mentioned, sir, in the resolution that Different aspects of the Constitution have given Protection to our people to our land. Supreme Court has upheld that particular aspect of ensuring that our people, its land, And not just this surface, but also the subsoil belongs to the people of the state, and hence this protections are meant to ensure or these rules are meant to ensure the protection of our people and of our land,” the CM said.
He said the resolution would represent a collective position cutting across political lines,
“We should unanimously pass this resolution without any doubt in our mind and send very very strong message of reassurance to the people of our state and very strong message to the government of India that the people of Meghalaya are united against the Mining and processing of Uranium in any form in any part of the state.”
