Meghalaya private university built on forest land, SC panel seeks ₹150 crore penalty, full restoration

The University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM), a prominent private institution in Ri-Bhoi district, has been found to have illegally encroached on more than 25 hectares of forest land, according to a damning report by the Supreme Court’s Central Empowered Committee (CEC).

The panel, which advises the apex court on forest and environmental compliance, has recommended a cumulative penalty of ₹150.35 crore on the university and directed that the entire occupied area be restored to forest within a year. The fine, it said, should be used to demolish illegal structures, reclaim degraded land, and fund compensatory afforestation.

The findings recently come a year after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma controversially accused USTM of triggering flash floods in Guwahati through “flood jihad” — a charge the university strongly denied. While the remark had stirred a political storm, the CEC’s latest assessment points to extensive forest violations and environmental damage.

The report states that out of 15.71 hectares on which USTM stands, 13.62 hectares are classified as forest land. Additionally, of the 12.13 hectares earmarked for the proposed PA Sangma Memorial Medical College, 7.64 hectares have already been broken up, in what the CEC described as “massive” and “indiscriminate” destruction.

“The breaking of land has been done devastatingly, and the surroundings have been heavily disturbed,” the committee observed, highlighting violations of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, and the Meghalaya Forest Regulation, 1973.

The penalty was calculated under seven heads, including environmental compensation, land restoration, tree felling, demolition costs, and net present value of diverted forest land.

The report also flagged rampant illegal mining and quarrying in Ri-Bhoi and called for a district-wide suspension of such activities until a detailed review is completed.

The case before the Supreme Court, which prompted the CEC’s intervention, was filed to address unchecked ecological degradation in Meghalaya’s Ri-Bhoi and East Khasi Hills and its cross-border fallout on Assam, particularly the flood-prone city of Guwahati.

Despite repeated directives from the Union Environment Ministry since 2017 to seek forest clearance, the university has continued its operations without approval. Its application for diversion of another 12-hectare forest parcel remains pending.

If the Supreme Court accepts the CEC’s recommendations, USTM faces not just a massive financial liability but also the prospect of losing much of its campus to reforestation.