Assam: 250 mines shut down as state intensifies crackdown after Dima Hasao deaths

Authorities in Assam have shut down more than 250 illegal mines in a crackdown initiated after at least four workers died in the state’s Dima Hasao district, The Indian Express reported on Saturday.

On January 9, nine workers were trapped in a 300-foot deep coal mine in the industrial town of Umrangso in Dima Hasao, after the mine was suddenly flooded with water. Over two weeks on, only four bodies have been recovered.

Following the deaths, the Assam government launched a campaign to shut down illegal rat-hole mines in the Tinsukhia and Dima Hasao districts.

Rat-hole mining is an unscientific practice that involves digging narrow tunnels to extract coal where miners need to crawl on hands and feet or lay flat to navigate. The practice has been banned for over a decade in Assam’s neighbouring state of Meghalaya.

The crackdown in Assam is largely being conducted on land that public sector undertaking Coal India Limited has leased, Tinsukhia District Commissioner Swapneel Paul was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

The newspaper reported that 173 such illegal mines have been shut down on land leased by Coal India Limited and on revenue land. Another 61 mines have been closed in forest areas.

Commenting on the status of criminal investigations into illegal mines, Tinsukhia Superintendent of Police Gaurav Abhijit Dilip told The Indian…

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