Meghalaya assembly on Wednesday, passed a unanimous resolution to prohibit uranium mining and also any proposal to set up a uranium ore-processing facility anywhere in the state.
The resolution, moved by chief minister Conrad K Sangma and supported by all 60 MLAs, records the collective position of Meghalaya’s political leadership and gives fresh legislative weight to a resistance that has for decades brought together traditional institutions, student organisations, civil society groups and communities in uranium-bearing areas.
Sangma said the resolution reflected the long-standing concerns of people living in areas such as Domiasiat, Wahkijn and Lostoin, where uranium deposits have been identified. “This is a historic and significant moment for the state,” Sangma said after the resolution was adopted, stressing that the unanimous vote sent an “unequivocal message” that Meghalaya did not want uranium mining or a uranium ore-processing facility.
The government also invoked the Supreme Court’s 2019 judgment in State of Meghalaya vs All Dimasa Students Union, in which the court held that, in Meghalaya’s hills districts, private and community landowners have rights over both the surface and sub-soil, including minerals, subject to the statutory regulatory framework.
He said the government would convey the assembly’s decision to the Centre and urged it to respect the sentiments of the state’s tribal communities.
He stressed that the issue transcended political governments and should remain a consistent position of the state.
Leader of the Opposition, Mukul Sangma welcomed the resolution and said its adoption should now be followed by sustained engagement with the Centre. He also said that the resolution represented the culmination of decades of public opposition rather than the achievement of any one political dispensation.
