Illegal coal mines in Meghalaya: How miners are exploited, lives threatened

The most recent incident vindicates the stand of activists that illegal coal mining occurs in the East Jaintia Hills. It not only exploits natural resources, but puts lives at risk

This article was first published on 15 December 2018 by The Wire. 

Update: Divers from the Navy and the NDRF went inside the flooded Meghalaya mine on Saturday to conduct a recce and measure the level of accumulated water as part of the rescue operation of the 15 trapped miners.

Abdul Karim turned 28 last month, but he has “nothing to feel good about it”. Six years ago, a spinal cord injury inside a rat-hole coal mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills left Karim’s limbs paralysed. “While I was digging, a big chunk of rock fell on