Exclusive Ground report: How illegal coal mining continues in Assam, near a rain forest

In the past several years, environmentalists have often cautioned against illegal coal mining around the rainforests located near the Assam-Arunachal border. 

An April 2021 report by a one-man commission of enquiry headed by Justice (retired) BP Katakey reported serious violation of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 by the extensive illegal coal mining that happened between 2003 and 2009 in the Tikok Open Cast Project (OCP) under the Saleki Reserve Forest (SRF), covering areas of adjoining districts of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia. 

More importantly, this area is close to the 232 sq km Dehing Patkai National Park, a rainforest, which is part of the 937 sq km Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve. Following this report, which was tabled in Assam assembly in December 2021, Assam government even formed two committees—one with the chief secretary as the chairman and the other helmed by the DGP—to stop illegal coal storage and transportation.

Even as Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on multiple occasions, has assured that his government will not allow illegal coal mining in the state, an India Today NE ground investigation has found rampant illegal coal mining at the Ledo-Margherita areas of Tinsukia district, which is geographically part of Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve. The India Today NE team visited multiple locations, including Jharna Basti in 3 Mulong Village, Tipong Colliery, and Aradhara Hills in SRF. Unauthorized mines in these areas, on the state’s eastern border with Arunachal Pradesh, are frequently smuggling coal to other areas of the state. 

For instance, in Tipong and Namdang collieries, part of SRF, where Coal India ceased operations in 2022, illegal mining has been going on, particularly through rat hole mining, which was banned by the National Green Tribunal in 2014. Rat-hole mining involves the digging of very small tunnels, usually only 3-4 feet high, through which workers enter and extract coal from. Jishu Thapa, an illegal mining owner at Tipong Colliery, admits that that the mining operations in the area are rat hole in nature. Sources claim that there are more than 1,000 rat hole mines in the area.

During the ground visit by India Today NE, excavators were found to be extracting coal in the foothills while freshly dug coal heaps were seen at various locations, and even in front of the residences of some locals there. Large number of migrants and locals including women and children—some are armed with country-made guns—dig out coal with sharp tools, which are then transported in gunny bags and head slings to selected spots in the villages and subsequently loaded onto trucks or other vehicles.  Mafia agents keep a close watch either from hilltops or coal reserves to ensure that these labourers deposit the extracts at coal bhattas in three shifts. A labourer, male or female, usually carries a load of 75-100 kg of coal on their back. The illegally mined coal is transported down to the foothill, where it is collected before being moved by over 1,000 vehicles daily through the mountainous routes created by the coal mafia. This route leads to the nearest unlawful depots adjacent to NH 315. The illicit coal is then loaded onto large 16-20-wheeler trucks that are parked on either side of NH 315. Reportedly, this illegal coal is also stored in the backyards of numerous unauthorized truck parking lots. 

The Katakey commission found that the North Eastern Coalfields (NEC), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, had extracted coal despite the non-renewal of several mining leases in the Digboi Forest Division, which had expired in 2003. In March 2021, the Union environment ministry, while replying to an RTI application, admitted that large-scale illegal coal mining by Coal India had taken place in the said region since 2003. The commission was set up after the state government had, in July 2020, ordered an inquiry into allegations of illegal mining in Tinsukia district’s Digboi Forest Division, which falls within the Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve. According to Katakey Commission, the NEC had illegally mined coal worth Rs 4,872.13 crore. Besides, Katakey commission report, another report, prepared by a local official, estimated that apart from NEC, nearly 400-40,000 individuals illegally extracted 30-40 kg of coal per day (approximately 12,000 to 1200,000 kg of coal daily) from the area causing huge loss to the state exchequer.

In April 2022, the National Board of Wildlife allowed Coal India to conduct opencast coal mining in 98.59 hectares of the Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve provided it fulfilled 28 pre-conditions. An official of the NEC told India Today NE that it has ceased most operations in the area with East Mining in Tikok being the only functional unit. Despite the NEC suspending most of its operations, coal mining has continued unabated in Margherita, Bargolai, Ledo, Aradhara, Namtok, Seleki and Tipong areas of Tinsukia district, allegedly with the blessings of politicians and government officials. Even the Katakey commission report mentioned involvement of politicians and government officials in illegal coal mining. Last year, the state government even admitted on the floor of the Assembly that the reports of miscreants encroaching upon some areas of Coal India in Ledo and Margherita and mining there illegally are true. 

For anyone to extract coal in these areas, “entry passes” are to be collected from the political authorities. For each dumper illegally extracting coal and truck transporting it, commission has to be paid to the coal mafia syndicate. Local sources claim that the mafia racket allegedly collects up to Rs 18,000 from each dumper and up to Rs 65,000 from each truck per trip from Ledo to Margherita. The charge goes high up to Rs 75,000 per truck per trip from Jagun to Lekhapani. In Jharna Basti, even residents are part of this illegal coal business. The villagers not only collect Rs 4 per kilogram of coal but also impose a Village Development Committee levy on the coal buyers, which varies from Rs 300 to Rs 400 per vehicle per trip. A government official, on condition of anonymity, said that between November 2022 and March 2023, 36,000 trucks transported coal from Tinsukia district to various places in India and Bhutan.

Government actions seem to have little impact on illegal mining in these areas. On March 12, 2019, the director of geology and mining in Assam filed an FIR against 19 coal mafias but no action has been taken against them so far. Assam’s Director General of Police (DGP), GP Singh, told India Today NE that 63 cases were registered in connection with illegal coal activities in 2022-23 and 62 arrests were made. As part of the crackdown, authorities seized 203.5 tons of coal from seven vehicles. Singh also added that consistent monitoring and action are being taken against illegal coal mining. Meetings under his chairmanship are conducted regularly, with all agencies collaboratively working to prevent and act against illegal coal transportation and storage. Despite multiple attempts, Chief Secretary Paban Kumar Borthakur, who is the head of the other committee, did responded to the queries sent by India Today NE. 

Occasionally, the forest department goes on drives to check illegal mining, but such initiatives are also crippled with a dearth of human resources. Montu Chetia, a forester with Tipam Reserved Forest, admits that illegal mining activities have been taking place within the forest and several individuals and vehicles have been apprehended for engaging in rat hole mining and carrying coals illegally. However, authorities find it difficult to control rat hole mining in the hilly regions where miners can spot patrolling officers from a distance and then run away. 

The India Today NE team also has witnessed a huge number of illegal ‘coke bhattas’ (kilns or oven plants) in the Ledo-Tirap area. According to sources, around 60 illegal coke coal bhattas are operational in these areas. The bhattas, located within the jurisdictions of Borgolai Panchayat, Ledo Colliery Gaon Panchayat and Samukjan Panchayat in Tinsukia district’s Margherita sub-division, are major hubs for illegal coal trade. Only a handful of these bhattas lift legally available coal from the NEC. The rest procure and consume lakhs of tonnes of pilfered coal, leading to massive revenue loss for the government. There are reports that these also violate the Pollution Control Board norms. Preeti Kumari, the SDO of Marherita, acknowledged that there have been instances of coal theft. FIRs have been lodged and actions taken but expressed ignorance about the number of operational coke industries and their coal sources. 

With the illegal coal trade flourishing in the Tinsukia district, it’s a big puzzle why the government has failed to stop this daylight robbery, despite multiple interventions from court and environment bodies.