Around 18 labourers are feared trapped after water entered a “rat gap” mine in Assam at present. The 300-foot deep coal mine is positioned in Umrangso, a distant industrial city in Dima Hasao district.
Water has reached about 100 toes of the unlawful quarry, sources mentioned. Police and rescue groups have reached the spot and utilizing two motor pumps to pump out the water.
Teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have left for the realm that’s near the Meghalaya border.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has mentioned the state has requested the Army’s help within the ongoing rescue operation.
We have requested the Army’s help within the ongoing rescue operation. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are additionally on their solution to the incident web site to help within the efforts. https://t.co/35ET3f80jr
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) January 6, 2025
“Rat gap” mining is a hazardous approach the place slender tunnels are manually dug by employees. These tunnels result in deep pits from which coal is mined. They additionally hurt the surroundings as a result of the acidic water and heavy metals discharged from the mines are poisonous to water sources used for agriculture and human consumption.
In 2018, 15 miners had been trapped in an unlawful coal mine within the East Jaintia Hills district in Meghalaya after water from a close-by river gushed into it. Only two our bodies had been the National Disaster Response Force had seen, the then commandant, SK Sastri, had mentioned.
In 2019, Meghalaya was fined Rs 100 crore by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for failing to curb unlawful coal mining within the state. The NGT had discovered that a lot of the 24,000 mines within the state had been unlawful.