Wanton coal mining in Meghalaya is not only harming the environment but also affecting food grain production of the State by degrading the cultivable land and polluting the irrigable water supply. "In particular, paddy cultivation has been adversely affected in the coal mining areas," a State Government report said. The situation has become so severe that Indian Council of Agricultural Research has been requested to evolve cost effective technology to reclaim and restore tracts of degraded paddy land. The ICAR would also find out ways for treatment of water affected by the coal mining, the report said. Only last Friday, the State Cabinet had decided to amend the State Forest Regulation Act 1973 to check wanton felling of trees for charcoal manufacturing, which has posed a serious threat to the environment in the State. There were reports of trees being cut down in large numbers in the name of shifting cultivation for producing charcoal in various parts of West Khasi Hills. It is learnt that local industries use most of the charcoal manufactured in the State. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) VK Nautiyal recently cited illegal charcoal manufacturing as a major cause of depletion of forest cover of the State. Amendment to the State Forest Regulation Act 1973 will empower the State Government to exercise control over the vast forests under the jurisdiction of the district councils. As it is, Meghalaya is a food deficit state with demand out-stripping the production. The State needs about four lakh metric tones of food grains while the production is only abut 3.3 lakh metric tones, the report said. One of the reasons for meager agriculture production is very limited irrigation facilities. Mono-cropping and subsistence farming also result in less production, the report said.