Six miners feared trapped in Meghalaya coal mine
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The National Green Tribunal had banned rat-hole coal mining in the State from April 2014
At least six labourers are feared from Assam trapped in a coal mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district.
On Monday, one Karimul Bari of southern Assam’s Cachar district informed the police that certainly one of his neighbours was amongst five-seven miners who died in a coal mine accident in Meghalaya two days in the past. He additionally stated their our bodies lay buried 500 ft beneath the floor.
“We received information about a few labourers believed to be from Assam trapped in a coal mine. We have shared the information with the police in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district,” Cachar’s Superintendent of Police, Nimbalkar Vaibhav Chandrakant stated.
The Meghalaya police confirmed receiving the data and stated the mine has been recognized as Sutnga Interior. The spot is about 1 km from Umpleng market.
East Jaintia Hills district’s Deputy Commissioner E. Kharmalki stated they didn’t obtain any official criticism about any miner trapped or useless in a coal mine.
“No one has informed us about people missing, nor is there any written complaint. We don’t know who these people are, what are their addresses and who are their relatives. But we have not taken the information lightly and have asked a police team to verify,” he stated from district headquarters Khliehriat.
Although the spot has been recognized, the police couldn’t perform any search operation attributable to heavy rainfall.
“Hopefully, the weather will clear tomorrow (Tuesday) for the search operation to continue. The area has a few mines 400-500 ft deep and we may have to seek the help of the State Disaster Response Force,” Mr Kharmalki stated.
The National Green Tribunal had in April 2014 banned the hazardous rat-hole coal mining in Meghalaya. But mining has continued illegally beneath the noses of officers, activists in the State stated.
In December 2018, a minimum of 17 miners – largely from Assam – had been killed after water crammed a rat-hole mine they had been extracting coal from. The ill-fated mine was at Ksan in the East Jaintia Hills district.
In January, six Assam-based miners died after a crane collapsed into the pit of a coal mine in the district’s Sorkari space.
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