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(This story was originally published on 19 August 2021 and is being reposted from The Quint's archives after it won the 2022 RedInk Award for Excellence in Journalism in the Environment [TV] category.)
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Tridip
Video Editor: Prashant Chauhan
Copy Editor: Saundarya Talwar
28 October 2020
It was a rainy afternoon in Domiasiat, a village in the south-west Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya, when the village matriarch, whom all lovingly called Mei-ieid (grandmother), quietly died in her sleep.
The 98-year-old Spillity Lyngdoh Langrin was buried in her own land – the land she loved and fought for.
This is the story of how a village with just six households and its matriarch stood up against uranium mining on their land.
In 1975 the Atomic Minerals Directorate (AMD) did an aerial survey of Domiasiat and found uranium. By the early 80s the villagers had allowed the mining to start.
But soon they start noticing the after-effects.
In the early 90s, Langrin, for the first time, had said "NO" to uranium mining and asked AMD to leave her land. Powerful student organizations like the Khasi Students Union (KSU) lent support to her fight.
In the early 2000s the government revived their plan to mine uranium. This time the Uranium Corporation of India (UCIL) offered almost Rs 45 crore to Spillity Lyngdoh Langrin for a 30-year lease. But she refused.
Tarun Bhartiya, a Shillong-based film-maker, who was fascinated by Spillity's determination extensively filmed her for almost 15 years.
In 2009, the Government of Meghalaya allowed UCIL to mine in an area close to Domiasiat. But by 2016, the people's movement led by Spillity Langrin and KSU forced the Government of Meghalaya to put a moratorium on uranium mining in the area.
In May 2020, at the peak of the COVID pandemic lockdown, a local news organization, ‘T7 News’ visited Domiasiat to do a lockdown story. This was perhaps the first time in a decade that a media organisation had gone to the village.
The crew was shocked by what they saw.
When T7 News released their report, the people of Meghalaya were shocked. Soon, they started speaking in solidarity with the people of Domiasiat.
Seeing the outrage, the Meghalaya government tried to hurriedly build a school as a damage-control measure.
But there is still no electricity or water supply. Any substantial development eludes Domiasiat even now.
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