Assam Announces Judicial Probe, SIT To Investigate Coal Mine Tragedy

The nine miners, working inside the coal mine in Tinkilo area, got trapped inside the mine when gushing wastes came in and flooded the mine.

Guwahati:The Assam government on Thursday ordered a judicial probe into the illegal coal mining incident at Umrangsho in Assam's Dima Hasao district. Retired judge of the Gauhati High Court, justice Anima Hazarika will conduct the judicial probe into the coal mining incident where nine miners got trapped recently. While the rescuers have retrieved four bodies so far, five others still remain untraced.

The judicial commission will submit the report to the government within three months time. The nine miners, working inside the coal mine in Tinkilo area, got trapped inside the mine when gushing wastes came in and flooded the coal mine, which was abandoned by the Assam Minerals Development Corporation about 12 years back.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said this on Thursday while addressing the media at Morigaon after holding a cabinet meeting. "Ten days have already passed and the chances of rescuing the trapped miners are remote now. We have announced an ex gratia amount of Rs. 10 lakh each to those whose bodies have been recovered and those who have still remained missing," said Sarma while adding that the government has also asked the Director General of the Assam Police to institute a special investigation team (SIT) to carry out a criminal investigation into the coal mining incident.

"The retired high court judge, who will carry out the judicial probe, will also monitor the criminal investigation to be carried out by the SIT of the Assam police," the Chief Minister said. Sarma further said that during the preliminary investigation, it was found that the Tinkilo area has about 220 such coal mines.

"We have also decided to seek help from the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute to help us in sealing the 220 abandoned coal mines. The Revenue and Rehabilitation department will also analyse the data from satellite maps to find out when these illegal coal mines were started in the area," he said.

Tragedy struck the coal mine at the Tinkilo area in Umrangsho on January 11 when the coal mine got flooded. While some miners could manage to reach the top, at least nine miners have remained trapped inside.

Although the rescuers including the Indian Army, Indian Navy, NDRF, SDRF and teams from Coal India Limited have tried their best to dewater the mine, only four bodies have been retrieved so far.