Two days after at least nine workers were trapped in an illegal coal mine in Assam’s Dima Hasao district, Army divers recovered the body of one of them, a Nepalese national, on Wednesday morning.
However, by the end of the day, when search and rescue operations were forced to be halted after sunset, none of the others could be rescued.
The body recovered belonged to Ganga Bahadur Srestho (38), a resident of Nepal’s Udayapur district. He was among a group of miners working in a rat hole mine in the Umrangso coal reserves when he became trapped on Monday morning after the mine was flooded with water.
Early Wednesday morning, the Army and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) conducted a joint rescue operation to recover his body. Search and rescue operations continued throughout the day, including those conducted by a Navy team of deepsea divers using sonar equipment.
The biggest challenge for the rescue teams is the level of flooding in the mines’ approximately 300-foot central pit, as well as a lack of adequate pumping equipment on site. According to officials, water levels had reached 200 feet.
Until Tuesday, rescuers used only one motor to pump out the water. On Tuesday, a heavy-duty motor pump from ONGC Silchar arrived at the site and continued dewatering even after search and rescue operations ended. Officials said they are looking for a heavy suction pump to help with the process.
Meanwhile, opposition parties have questioned how illegal mining operations were carried out in the area.
Hasao has extensive coal, limestone, and granite quarrying activities, and Umrangso’s coal reserves have been leased by the state government’s Assam Mining Development Corporation (AMDC). However, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated that the mine where the workers are trapped appears to be illegal.
On Tuesday, Dima Hasao police filed a case on charges of culpable homicide and violating the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957. A man was arrested.
Assam Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi has called for the formation of a SIT to investigate illegal coal mining in Assam.
“Our prayers are with everyone and we hope they are reunited with their families…” According to media reports, mining was taking place illegally. So, what did the BJP government do? What did the guardian ministers do? What did the district administration do? We are also concerned about this and want a SIT to be established,” he said.
The arrest of only one person was described as an attempt to “deflect blame” by the Asom Jatiya Parishad.
“This falsely blames one individual for illegal mining while ignoring systemic collusion between government agencies and law enforcement…” Defying Supreme Court orders on this scale would not have been possible without the Chief Minister’s tacit approval. If he was unaware, why hasn’t he ordered the immediate arrest of the responsible district officials and AMDCL director?” the party inquired.
