Shaken by tragedy, Assam widens crackdown on illegal rat-hole mining

Following the incident, the authorities authorities announced that it would statesman sealing each amerciable rat-hole mines successful the Umrangso reserves and said 220 specified mines had been identified. While authorities successful Dima Hasao began this enactment past week, dismantling 8 mines successful the archetypal 2 days, authorities person present besides begun a crackdown much than 500 km distant successful the ember reserves successful Tinsukia district.

“The Chief Minister had fixed maine a absorption that it came to his cognition that rat-hole mining is going connected successful Margherita, Ledo, Lekhapani areas. I visited yesterday with the IG and SP. All the stakeholders – the mining department, the territory administration, constabulary administration, the wood department, Coal India Limited – person each been fixed directions that wherever rat-hole mining is going on, it volition person to beryllium wholly unopen down wrong 7 days,” Assam DGP GP Singh said connected January 19 during a sojourn to Tinsukia district.

In the ember mining loop of the Margherita and Ledo portion of Assam’s Tinsukia district, Coal India Limited has its North Eastern Coalfields, wherever it has six collieries of which lone 2 – Tirap and Tikak – are being operated.

According to Tinsukia DC Swapneel Paul, the crackdown is being conducted mostly successful areas nether Coal India Limited’s leasehold.

However, officials successful the territory administration, constabulary and Coal India Limited said they person not yet collated the full fig of specified mines identified and unopen down during the ongoing crackdown, saying it is simply a continuing process involving aggregate agencies.

Joint teams from the territory administration, Coal India Limited, the Forest department, the Assam Power Distribution Company Limited and the constabulary person been dismantling rat-home mines and seizing instrumentality successful the region.

When asked astir the transgression probe successful transportation with the cognition of amerciable mines successful the area, Tinsukia SP Gaurav Abhijit Dilip said, “Cases person been registered, it is an ongoing matter. Forty-five cases had been registered past year. Cases are registered whenever Coal India, Forest oregon immoderate different bureau reports them.”

In the meantime, the visuals of miners who worked successful these mines lining up astatine Ledo railway presumption to spell backmost to their homes successful antithetic parts of Assam person raised questions connected the continuing prevalence of wide amerciable rat-hole mining successful the area, contempt extended documentation of the same.

The study of a committee helmed by Justice B P Katakey (retired) successful 2021, connected allegations of amerciable mining successful Reserve Forests nether Digboi Forest Division, had highlighted amerciable rat-hole mining successful areas nether the NEC by “some different persons/organisations”. The study besides said authorities were cognizant of the large-scale extraction of ember done amerciable mining by different parties citing a 2018 missive by the past Sub-Divisional Officer (Civil) Margherita to the Directorate of Geology and Mining, estimating that hundreds of radical transportation “30-40 kg of ember per idiosyncratic per day”.

Asom Jatiya Parishad wide caput Jagadish Bhuyan said, “While we person been saying that amerciable rat-hole mining has been happening successful the country for years, the authorities has been successful denial each this clip and the B P Katakey study had been thrown successful the dustbin. Now, they are yet agreeing that it is happening. But on with shutting down mines, enactment besides has to beryllium taken against those who person done this and allowed this to happen. The magnitude of gross mislaid to this volition besides person to beryllium estimated.”