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NDRF teams rush to Garo hills mines-Andrew W Lyngdoh
-The Telegraph

Shillong: Two teams of National Disaster Response Force personnel were rushed to Meghalaya’s South Garo Hills district today to help rescue possible survivors among the 15 labourers trapped inside a coal mine since last week.

The Guwahati-based personnel reached Nengkol in the Rongsa Awe area of Nangalbibra region — from where it is 10km to the coal mines — late this evening. Baghmara, the district headquarters, is around 480km from this capital city and it takes nearly three hours to drive from Baghmara to Nangalbibra.

Meghalaya moved Delhi for NDRF help only today, five days after the miners were trapped, a time gap which, sources in Delhi and Guwahati said, made the chances of “survival” of those trapped “almost next to nothing”.

“A 70-member NDRF team, mostly trained in mountaineering, equipped with 15 oxygen cylinders and 15 masks left for the site around 2pm . Rescue efforts will start only tomorrow, making things even more bleak for those trapped inside,” a source said.

The Assam home department, which was contacted by the Meghalaya home department, provided three vehicles within short notice to ferry the NDRF team.

“The Assam home department officials were very prompt. Wish everybody else was equally prompt,” a source said, referring to the delay in seeking NDRF help.

It is understood that the Baghmara administration got a whiff of the incident after two days, resulting in the “inordinate” delay. Reports emanating out of Baghmara suggest that no protective measures were taken by those in charge of mining. “Here one does not mean only those coordinating work at the site,” the source added.

Around 12.30pm on Friday, 30 labourers were engaged in excavation in a coal mine belonging to the nokma of Rongsa Awe, Kudon A. Sangma. The local people had reportedly advised mine developer Gurdeep Singh to stop mining in view of the monsoon but he allegedly asked the labourers to undertake the excavation. In the process, the labourers accidentally hit into a wall of an abandoned mine that was filled with gallons of water. The labourers were unable to cap the hole as water gushed out and submerged the mine they were working in. While 15 labourers managed to escape, the others were trapped inside.

South Garo Hills police have arrested three persons — Sangma, Singh and the head of the labourers identified as “captain”.

South Garo Hills additional district magistrate R.P. Marak said the trio had been booked under Section 304A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC. Singh’s helper, Vashith, is absconding.

Meghalaya deputy chief minister Bindo M. Lanong, who holds the mining and geology department portfolio, took stock of the situation at the secretariat today.

He said the government was in touch with the district administration.

A deputy superintendent of police and a magistrate have been posted at the site to supervise rescue operations.

“Ten water pumps are pumping out water from the mine. But the problem is that the water gushing in is running water,” he added.

He said according to reports received, most of the labourers were from outside the state. “We have also received two sets of information about the 15 survivors. One report says they have fled the area while the second says that some of them have been arrested,” he added.

Asked about the delayed action on part of the authorities, he said the nokma did not intimate the police about the mishap. Local people are said to have informed the police. Asked whether the department conducts regular inspection in the coal mining areas, he replied in the affirmative.

Lanong said the new mining policy, which would be implemented soon, would make it mandatory for coal mine owners to refill the pits once the mineral was exhausted. He also said reafforestation programmes would be made compulsory.

He added that while implementing the policy, the government would have to do a balancing act to ensure that the rights of the people over their land was not violated.

Ten years ago, 30 people had died in a similar incident in Garo hills after water surged in from an abandoned mine, drowning the labourers.

Coal is unscientifically mined in Garo hills, Jaintia Hills and West Khasi Hills.

The present system of coal mining in these areas is also known as rat-hole mining as labourers go underground to extract the black gold with locally available equipment.

A report on illegal private coal mines around Balpakram National Park in South Garo Hills by Asad Rahmani of Bombay Natural History Society, which was submitted to the National Board of Wildlife in 2010, had recommended that the Centre take up the issue of private mining (both coal and limestone) with the state government.

“Such mining is going on at a massive scale throughout the state and has severe implications for the social fabric of the state. The state and district council must ensure that no new illegal mine is opened anywhere,” the report had stated.

Based on this report, a standing committee of the National Board of Wildlife decided to reject a proposal of the department of atomic energy for exploratory drilling for uranium in Rongcheng plateau in Balpakram.

“All coal mines in Garo hills (and in other parts of the state), whether private or government, should be strictly regulated under the various mining acts and illegal mines should at once be stopped till a proper scientific study is done,” the report stated.

These private mines violate the Forest Conservation Act of 1980 and the Environment Protection Act of 1986 as no clearances have been applied for or given. These mines also do not have clearances under relevant mining-related legislation.

Additional reporting by Umanand Jaiswal and Roopak Goswami in Guwahati.