Overview
- The 60‑member Meghalaya Legislative Assembly voted unanimously on Wednesday to formally oppose uranium extraction and any uranium ore‑processing facility, a motion moved by Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma.
- The resolution bases the state’s demand on customary land ownership under the Sixth Schedule and the July 3, 2019 Supreme Court ruling that recognised private and community rights over sub‑soil minerals in Meghalaya.
- The House instructed the state government to press the Union government, the Department of Atomic Energy and the Uranium Corporation of India Limited to exclude the Kylleng‑Pyndengsohiong‑Mawthabah project and to bar any uranium mining or processing in Meghalaya.
- Lawmakers and campaigners cited long‑running local resistance, health and livelihood fears, and the region’s fragile terrain and high rainfall that makes it landslide prone and vital as a water catchment for rivers and drinking supplies.
- The resolution strengthens Meghalaya’s political and moral case but does not by itself stop central approvals; the next steps will centre on state‑to‑Centre negotiations, possible legal contests and scrutiny of federal decisions about the state’s reported 9.22 million tonnes of uranium deposits.