Uranium Mining

India’s Forest and Environment Ministry has given clearance to Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), a Government of India enterprise, to start open-cast uranium mining in Meghalaya, a mountainous and ecologically fragile province in north-east India. The clearance comes despite decades of opposition to uranium exploration and mining in the province by locals claiming to be victims of radiation and toxic waste resulting from exploratory drillings by UCIL. The most recent anti-mining protests were triggered by the large-scale death of fish in the Ranikor River, allegedly from toxic waste caused by drilling and dumping into the river but local government authorities ruled out radiation poisoning as the cause.