GUWAHATI
A regional political party in Assam has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take decisive action against political leaders and government officials responsible for illegal rat-hole mining, resulting in the loss of lives and environmental degradation in blatant violation of repeated directions by the Supreme Court.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) also underlined the futility of forming an inquiry commission to probe the January 6 rat-hole mining disaster in Dima Hasao district’s Umrangso, while ignoring previous findings. This was with reference to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s decision to constitute a panel headed by retired judge Anima Hazarika to investigate the illegal coal mining operations in the district.
Nine miners were trapped in a flooded rat-hole mine in the Kalamati area of Dima Hasao on January 6. Rescue workers from multiple agencies, including the Indian Navy and Army, have retrieved the bodies of four miners so far.
The Chief Minister said draining the ill-fated mine and other interconnected abandoned mines would take 25-60 days.
“This [Dima Hasao] incident is not an isolated occurrence but part of a larger systemic issue of illegal coal mining facilitated by the Assam government,” AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi and general secretary Jagadish Bhuyan wrote, referring to the Chief Minister’s “contradictory statements” relating to the mining mishap.
They said the Chief Minister acknowledged the presence of 220 illegal rat-hole mines around the incident site after claiming they were abandoned by the Assam Mineral Development Corporation (AMDC) and inactive for over 12 years.
Sniffing a design to “perpetuate the illegal coal mining empire”, they pointed to Director General of Police G.P. Singh’s admission on January 19 that illegal coal mining operations were ongoing in certain areas of eastern Assam’s Ledo-Margherita area.
“Therefore, it is essential to register FIRs [First Information Reports] not only against those directly involved in the illegal activities but also against the officials who allowed or wilfully ignored these illegal activities. Accountability must be ensured through a transparent, impartial and independent investigation,” the letter said.
The AJP said the Chief Minister’s move to constitute a commission of inquiry into the Dima Hasao incident would be “an eyewash” unless the recommendations of similar panels in the past were acted upon.
“In 2020, a commission led by Justice (retired) Brajendra Prasad Katakey was constituted to investigate illegal coal mining in Dihing-Patkai, Ledo, and Margherita regions. Despite submitting a comprehensive report on April 17, 2021, highlighting extensive illegal activities and implicating top officials, no action was taken,” the letter said.
“Similarly, a 2023 CAG [Comptroller and Auditor General] report tabled in the Assam Legislative Assembly revealed gross mismanagement and illegal operations by AMDC, warning of potential accidents if illegal mining activities persisted. Despite these warnings, the government has failed to act, culminating in the recent tragedy in Umrangso,” it added, demanding action against AMDC’s Managing Director Natarajan Anand for “direct involvement in illegal mining in violation of the Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal’s orders”.
Apart from political leaders, officials, and individuals involved in illegal mining operations, the AJP sought action against the proprietors of cement plants, brick kilns, and coke units benefitting from the illegal coal trade.
