Shillong, Mar 9 (Representative) A member of the National Executive Committee of BJP’s Minority Wing, Elizabeth Nongbri has written to India’s Minister of State for Atomic Energy, Dr Jitendra Singh, advocating for the recommencement of uranium miningeghalaya’s West Khasi Hills district. In a letter addressed to Dr. Singh, Nongbri, who also heads the North East Sunshine Trust (NEST), a registered non-governmental organisation in Shillong, highlighted their “grassroots connections and expertise” to facilitate a successful “grassroots connections and expertise” to facilitate a successful venture. “We have the necessary wherewithal in terms of engagement with local people; ability to convince them of the vast benefit accruing to the region; and the prospects of a vastly improved lifestyle in case of relocation,” Nongbri stated in the letter. Highlighting the substantial commercial value of the uranium deposits in the state, Nongbri underscored the missed opportunities due to previous setbacks, citing vested interests obstructing progress. “Government of India surveys indicated vast deposits of uranium in West Khasi Hills.
Exploratory efforts to mine this precious resource 17 years ago couldn’t progress due to vested interests stonewalling the efforts by building up adverse public opinion against the venture,” Nongbri elaborated. Noting that other states such as Jharkhand, which have capitalised on smaller uranium reserves, Nongbri urged Meghalaya to follow suit and harness the potential benefits of uranium mining “While other states like Jharkhand have been able to benefit from the much smaller deposits in their area, Meghalaya is sitting on such an enormous quantity of natural resources and is unable to benefit from it,” she asserted. Meghalaya is the third uranium-rich state in the country after Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh. The state accounts for 16 percent of India’s uranium reserves, with deposits estimated to be around 9,500 tonnes and 4,000 tonnes respectively at Domiasiat and Wakhaji, both in the South West Khasi Hills district. The Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) discovered uranium deposits decades back. In 2009 the Congress-led D.D. Lapang government leased out 422 hectares of land to UCIL for pre-mining activities in South West Khasi Hill district.
UCIL had proposed to set up an open-cast uranium mining and processing project at Kylleng-Pyndengsohiong-Mawthabah at an estimated cost of Rs 1,100 crore. The proposed open-cast uranium mining project has remained a non-starter since 1992 after several groups and political leaders expressed fears of harmful radiation impact on health and the environment. On August 29, 2017, the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) temporarily closed down its establishments in Meghalaya since the government-owned mining company did not receive a mining lease and statutory permission from the state government. Prior to the UCIL temporarily closing down its office, the Atomic Mineral Directorate stopped its exploratory drilling in uranium-rich South West Khasi Hills district after its officials were attacked and machines used for taking sub surface samples were also set on fire.UCIL had proposed to set up an open-cast uranium mining and processing plant at Mawthabah. Meghalaya has an estimated 9.22 million tonnes of uranium ore deposits.