The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution opposing uranium exploration and mining across the state, backing the decision with all 60 MLAs on Wednesday. Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma moved the motion to send a clear message to the Centre and the Uranium Corporation of India Limited against pursuing extraction.
Legislative Backing and Unanimous Support in Shillong
The Meghalaya Assembly unanimously passed a resolution opposing uranium mining and any proposal to establish an ore-processing facility anywhere in the state. All 60 MLAs backed the move during Wednesday’s session, with the opposition supporting the government on the tabled measure.
Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma described the vote as a historic and significant moment
for the northeastern state. The decision formalizes long-standing community resistance and places the state’s official legislative position before the Centre, the Department of Atomic Energy, and Uranium Corporation of India Limited.
Land Ownership Protections and Environmental Concerns
Behind the political consensus lies a distinctive regional framework governing natural resources. Land in Meghalaya operates under a constitutional and customary structure, with community, clan, and individual ownership protected under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Sangma pointed out that deposits have been identified in specific areas including Domiasiat, Wahkyn, and Nongstoin.
To reinforce the state’s legal standing, the government cited a Supreme Court judgment from 2019 in State of Meghalaya vs All Dimasa Students Union. That ruling established that private and community landowners in hill districts hold rights over both the surface and sub-soil, including minerals, meaning a mining lease cannot be granted without the authority of the private or community owner.
Environmental vulnerabilities also drove the legislative rejection. The proposed project area in West Khasi Hills and South West Khasi Hills experiences high rainfall, steep terrain, and susceptibility to landslides, forming the vital catchment for local drinking water and agricultural streams. Sangma noted that the containment of overburden, mill tailings and process effluents under such conditions has not been demonstrated to the satisfaction of affected communities.
Decades of Grassroots Resistance in West Khasi Hills
The legislative action gives formal backing to a decades-old public movement against uranium extraction. Exploration in the region began in the 1980s when the Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research started surveying the uranium-rich areas around Domiasiat and the Kylleng-Pyndengsohiong-Mawthabah region.
Over the years, traditional institutions, student groups, and civil society organizations have opposed proposed mining activities over health and displacement concerns. Prominent figures became synonymous with the resistance. Hopingstone Lyngdoh helped mobilize early public resistance, while Spelity Lyngdoh Langrin of Domiasiat became a powerful symbol of refusal by turning down a major offer from UCIL for her land.
The resolution also referenced a Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Office Memorandum issued on September 8, 2025, which exempted atomic mineral mining projects from public consultation under the Environment Impact Assessment Notification of 2006.
Reserves, Estimates, and Next Steps
Despite these large deposits and a detailed mining plan previously formulated by the Department of Atomic Energy, the state government will now officially communicate the Assembly’s unanimous decision to federal authorities.
