Meghalaya Assembly passes resolution opposing uranium mining and ore processing

Guwahati: The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly on Wednesday unanimously passed a Government Resolution opposing all uranium mining activities and ore processing facilities within the state.Moving the resolution, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said the state government would press the Union Government, the Department of Atomic Energy and the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) to enforce a complete and permanent bar on the exploration, extraction and processing of uranium, specifically including the proposed Kylleng-Pyndengsohiong Mawthabah Uranium Mining Project.Sangma said the resolution was intended to make the position of the state government, Assembly and public clear on an issue that has remained contentious for decades.Kolkata Civic Polls: BJP Sets 170-180 Ward Target, Eyes 'Sanatani' Mayor The resolution invokes the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution and a Supreme Court judgment delivered on July 3, 2019. The court had ruled that in Meghalaya, tribal private landowners and community owners have rights not only over the surface of the land but also the sub-soil and underlying minerals.Referring to the judgment, Sangma said these constitutional protections were established to safeguard indigenous people and their ancestral lands, and that the state's natural resources remained under the ownership of its residents.The resolution refers to known uranium deposits in the Domiasiat, Wahkyn and Lostoin areas of the West Khasi Hills and South West Khasi Hills districts. Previous proposals envisaged open-cast mining operations along with on-site processing plants in these areas.Sangma pointed to the environmental and ecological vulnerabilities of the deposit zones, saying they have steep, landslide-prone terrain and receive exceptionally heavy rainfall. The areas also form important catchment zones for local streams and major rivers that supply drinking water, support agriculture, sustain local fisheries and rural livelihoods.Nepal Flash Flood Triggers Gandak River Surge Fear; Bihar Places 6 Districts On High Alert The resolution also records continued opposition to uranium mining from traditional institutions, Autonomous District Councils, student bodies and civil society organisations. It states that the mandatory free, prior and informed consent of affected local communities has never been obtained and that no uranium mining leases have been executed in the state.The Assembly also referred to an Office Memorandum issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on September 8, 2025. The memorandum sought to exempt certain atomic mineral mining projects from public consultation requirements under the Environment Impact Assessment Notification of 2006.The resolution further referred to recent public assurances made in Shillong by the Union Minister of State in charge of the Department of Atomic Energy that no final decision had been taken on mining operations in Meghalaya and that the matter was still under internal review.The resolution was passed without a dissenting vote, with the Assembly maintaining a united position against uranium mining and ore processing in the state.

Local communities have been resisting the proposed exploration of the radioactive mineral in Domiasiat, Lostoin, Mawthabah, and Wahkaji areas of South West Khasi Hills district