The Justice Katakey committee, in its 27th interim report, has said police drones used to monitor illegal mining of coal in the State is in a “very sorry state of affairs.”
The State government had set up two Drone Control Rooms using Rs 45.27 lakh funded through the Meghalaya Environmental and Protection Restoration Fund (MEPRF) to be used by the Police Department to prevent and monitor illegal mining and transportation activities through technology.
Two control rooms each were set up in East Jaintia Hills, West Khasi Hills and South Garo Hills and one each in East Khasi Hills, West Jaintia Hills, South West Khasi Hills, West Garo Hills and East Garo Hills districts.
However, the committee found that the purpose of setting up of the control rooms appears to be defeated by non-utilization of the equipment by the police department.
The committee said though East Jaintia Hills, West Jaintia Hills, West Khasi Hills and South Garo Hills district are four major coal producing districts where large number of illegal coal mining activities were detected, only six sorties (two in West Jaintia Hills and four in East Jaintia Hills District) were taken up by the police in the last 10 months from April 1, 2024 to January 31, 2025. Not a single sortie was made in West Garo Hills and East Khasi Hills districts, the committee added.
It further revealed that no drone surveillance was carried out in areas under the Gasuapara Police Station in South Garo Hills, though 2527.71 MT and 73.006 MT of coal was seized in Gandibhor village and Nirang and Goreng in West Khasi Hills District on December 5, 2024 and September 12, 2024 respectively, which also establishes continued illegal coal mining activities in the State.
The committee recommended proper drone surveillance in all districts of the State and said that the concerned Superintendents of Police should identify the areas where illegal coal mining activities are found within a week. It also suggested immediate constitution of a dedicated team of officers to be headed by an office not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police and consisting of trained police personnel to conduct drone surveillance by prioritising those areas where illegal coal mining activities take place.
The police are also to maintain the video footage recorded for six months and to submit a weekly report indicating the number of sorties made, locality /area covered, outcome, and the police station case registered as well as the action taken.
The committee suggested that a fortnightly report of the surveillance has to be submitted by the Superintendent of Police to the Director General of Police who will then submit a report to the Chief Secretary.
To ensure conduct of regular patrolling the Officer-in-Charge of all the police stations of all the districts shall submit fortnightly reports to the Superintendents of Police, who shall compile a report and send them to the Police Head Quarters as well as to the Mining and Geology Department.
