Assam coal mine tragedy: Gauhati HC issues notice to state govt
The Gauhati high court on Tuesday issued notices to the Assam government in connection with the coal mine mishap which happened in Dima Hasao district’s Umrangso area on January 6.
Acting on a suo moto public interest litigation (PIL), a division bench of the high court (HC) issued the notices to the state government, the departments of mines and minerals, forest and environment, home and political, revenue and disaster, the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council and the directorate of geology and mining.
The high court move comes 23 days after nine workers got trapped in an illegal rathole coal mine at Umrangso in Dima Hasao district following flooding from an underground aquifer. Following rescue efforts by multiple agencies, the bodies of four of them were found later while five remain untraced.
“The court has taken note of the coal mine tragedy that had taken place in Umrangso. The court has taken note of various reports which suggest that around more than 200 ratehole mines are in operation in the Umrangso area,” the order issued by chief justice Vijay Bishnoi and justice Kaushik Goswami read.
“The court has also taken note that in Karbi Anglong district of the state of Assam the rathole mining is rampant and is either going unnoticed or despite having knowledge of the same, the authorities are not taking any action to stop or close those rathole mines,” the order added.
The court asked all the respondents to file the latest status report regarding action taken by the state government to stop the practice of rathole mining. The next date of the hearing in the case is February 7.
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Following the mishap in Umrangso on January 8, several agencies including National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), army and navy were involved in the efforts to rescue the trapped miners and remove excess water from the nearly 300-feet mine which was filled with around 100 feet water.
While four bodies were recovered, five others are still missing. Dewatering efforts had also faced setbacks as the mine was getting filled from an underground source.
On January 16, the Assam cabinet constituted a judicial inquiry and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the mishap. The cabinet decided to provide ₹10 lakh each as compensation to the next of kin of those four workers whose bodies were recovered and to family members of the remaining five who are yet to be traced.
Following the incident, police in Dima Hasao registered a case and arrested 11 persons connected to operating the illegal mine.
