The state government’s decision to move a resolution to formally oppose and ban uranium mining in Meghalaya is a positive one and something that should get cross-party support.
The spectre of uranium mining has hung over Meghalaya, especially in areas of West and South West Khasi Hills, for decades. The area is thought to contain one-sixth of all the uranium ore in India, some 9 million tonnes.
Part of the public’s opposition to uranium extraction is down to hysteria but the majority of it is quite rightly due to concerns over the risks of radioactive contamination of soil and water and alienation of indigenous land.
Governments, at both the Centre and State levels, have in the past tried to assure the citizenry of mining’s benefits – in terms of economic windfall for the otherwise marginalised people of the area and the greater national interest.
Coal mining and limestone quarrying have already ruined much of Meghalaya’s beautiful landscapes and it does not take a massive leap to imagine how bad uranium extraction would be for the environment. That being said, there is a ravenous coal and limestone lobby that is happy to destroy these hills to satisfy their greed and the authorities perhaps hoped that the same would be the case for uranium.
But if they did, they did not factor in the level of staunch opposition. Spelity Lyngdoh Langrin became something of a folk hero for her steadfast refusal to part with her land for – reportedly – crores and crores of rupees in a uranium-rich part of the state.
Although it is taken for granted that uranium mining is a no-go, every so often the issue raises its ugly head once again. Most recently, it came through allegations by a pressure group that a politician was trying to buy up uranium-rich land to facilitate eventual extraction. And then, a visiting Union Minister of State, when asked, could not give a clear-cut answer on the matter and that led to more speculation.
Meghalaya’s opposition to uranium mining is important from an environmental standpoint but also from a moral one. Proponents might tout how the uranium in the state could be used to power the country’s civilian nuclear reactors and reduce India’s dependence on dirty fossil fuels. However, India has already signed numerous civil nuclear deals with the USA and, most recently, Australia. These allow India to import uranium for peaceful purposes. What is not allowed is for India to use these countries’ uranium supplies for nuclear weapons; we would have to depend on our own uranium stock for that.
So, by rejecting uranium mining, Meghalaya may be playing its part in reducing the number of nuclear weapons in the world. That’s no bad thing.
