East Jaintia Hills Mining Tragedy: Meghalaya Government Orders Judicial Probe

The Meghalaya government has ordered a judicial inquiry into the deadly coal mining accident in the Mynsngat Thangsko area of East Jaintia Hills district, as the death toll in the tragedy rose to 27, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said. 

The inquiry will be conducted under the Commission of Inquiry Act and is tasked with reconstructing the sequence of events that led to the explosion and cave-in at the illegal mining site, identifying administrative and regulatory failures, and fixing accountability.

Officials confirmed that at least six of the deceased workers were residents of neighbouring Assam, underscoring the inter-state dimension of the disaster and the continued flow of migrant labour into Meghalaya’s illegal coal mines despite a long-standing ban on rat-hole mining.

Most of the victims were daily-wage labourers who had entered the mine in search of a livelihood, working in extremely unsafe and unregulated conditions. The blast inside the mine was followed by a major cave-in, trapping workers underground and triggering a large-scale rescue and recovery operation.

Police personnel, disaster response teams, and local authorities were deployed to the site, battling difficult terrain and serious safety risks as bodies were recovered over several days. At earlier stages of the operation, authorities had not ruled out the possibility of additional workers being trapped beneath the debris.

The incident has once again brought into sharp focus the persistence of illegal rat-hole coal mining in Meghalaya, years after the practice was banned and repeatedly flagged as life-threatening by courts and expert bodies. Despite enforcement drives and warnings, clandestine mining operations continue to operate in remote areas, often employing vulnerable migrant workers.

Announcing the inquiry, Chief Minister Sangma said the commission would examine all aspects of the tragedy, including regulatory lapses and possible negligence, and its findings would guide both legal action and future policy decisions aimed at preventing similar disasters.

The state government said it is committed to ensuring justice for the families of the victims and promised strict action against those found responsible, as public anger mounts over yet another fatal reminder of the human cost of illegal mining in the region.

Also Read:  Meghalaya Illegal Mine Blast: Death Toll Reaches 25, Two Arrested