Headlines       Vol. 2 Issue 1-2

May 7- May 21 , 1999

Meghalaya tops list of coal bearing states in NE Coal resources of the four North-Eastern States —Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland — have been estimated at 889.81 million tonnes by the Geological Survey of India (GSI). According to an official document of the Union Ministry of Coal, of the total reserve of 889.81 million tonnes, 398.28 million tonnes under inferred category, 411.86 million tonnes under proved category while 80.11 million tonnes are under indicated category. Of the total coal reserve in the four states, Meghalaya topped the list with 459.43 million tonnes followed by Assam with 320.21 million tonnes, Arunachal Pradesh with 90.23 million tonnes and Nagaland with 19.94 million tonnes. The document said North Eastern Coalfield (NEC), with its headquarters at Margherita is a unit directly controlled by the Coal India Limited and responsible for development and production of coal in the North-Eastern states. The present mining activities are confined to Assam and Meghalaya only, it said adding that the area has large proven reserves of low ash, high calorific value coal but its high sulphur content prevents its coal to be used directly as metallurgical. It said that in steep and thick seams of Margherita area of NEC (Assam), a system of shieldmining has been introduced. The percentage of extraction was nearly seventy per cent which was an improvement over 32 to 35 per cent in the conventional system. Exploration of coal reserves in the country was carried out in two stages. In the first stage, GSI undertakes regional exploration for locating potential coal bearing areas on a continuous basis. In the second stage, detailed exploration was carried out, the document added. The document said that neighbouring Bangladesh imports large quantity of coal from the private mines of Meghalaya. The Meghalaya coal exported to Bangladesh was also canalised through Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation (MMTC). Since September 29, 1989, export of Meghalaya coal to Bangladesh was exempted from canalisation through MMTC and was canalised through Meghalaya Mineral Development Corporation. Again, from July 1991, the export was fully decanalised as a result of which private exporters were allowed to export coal. However, the export was subjected to a minimum export price of US dollar 56 per tonne with effect from February 5, 1992. This restriction of MEP was removed later. The GSI will soon embark on survey in Tripura's 200 villages to explore mineral resources and to examine the land condition. GSI's North Eastern Region deputy general manager B. P.Bhattacharjee discussed the organisation's plan to intensify its activitiesin the entire North-Eastern region with Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and other State Government officials recently. GSI officials are determined to establish a comprehensive picture on the mineral resources, environmental aspects, natural hazards and land use pattern, Mr. Bhattacharjee told the Tripura Government. The programme of the GSI for “development of villagers economy and mineral appraisal” in Tripura, would pave the way for the development of village economy in the State in the near future, the sources said adding in Tripura, four thousand metre drilling had been planned during the ongoing ninth Plan period, of which 800 metre drilling had been planned in the current field season, ending September 30.

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