Spility Langrin Lyngdoh took a firm decision in 1994 that she would not give her land for uranium mining. She had heard about the radiation horror stories of Jaduguda village in distant Chhattisgarh. The 80-year-old came to know about Jaduguda when mine workers of atomic minerals division of the Atomic Energy Commission visited her village, Domiasiat, in West Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya. They conducted exploration work for testing the quality of uranium deposits in and around Domiasiat. During the exploration, many workers told her about the hazards of uranium and its effect on people in Jaduguda. Almost 70,000 people living within 10km of uranium mines in Jaduguda had fallen prey to diseases caused by radiation ('Uranium eaters', THE WEEK, June 26,1994). Domiasiat is a tiny hamlet of ten households on the bank of the river Kylleng. The hamlet and five other villages