In Assam, rescue operations by multiple Central and State agencies continued for the fifth day to locate trapped miners inside an illegal rat-hole coal mine at Umrangso in Dima Hasao district. On Monday early morning, the coal miners were trapped inside the 3-kilo Coal Quarry in Umrangso, after a sudden gush of water flooded the site. The body of a miner was retrieved on Wednesday and Eight miners are still missing.
An expert rescue team of Western Coalfields Limited from Nagpur headquarters arrived at the accident site in the Umrangso with a massive submersible pump that can pump out 500 gallons of water per minute to join the united efforts of Navy, Army, NDRF, SDRF, ONGC and district administration to trace and rescue the miners trapped inside.
According to a senior government official, who is overseeing the rescue operation, the water levels are not receding despite multiple pumps pulling out water from the mine and suspecting the mine seems connected below with some water source.
Meanwhile, the Opposition parties slammed the State government over the mining tragedy and demanded a judicial probe for strict action against the culprits. Police have already arrested one individual, Punish Nunisa, in connection with the case.
The National Green Tribunal had banned rat-hole mining in 2014. However, coal is still extracted by this dangerous method in the Northeast.
