GUWAHATI: A landslide in an illegal rat-hole coal mine in the Patkai Hills of eastern Assam’s Tinsukia district has left three workers trapped on Sunday afternoon.
The incident unfolded around 12:30 pm at the Tikok West Mining site, situated between Bargolai and Namdang under the Tikok colliery in Ledo.
The trapped workers include Dawa Cherpa from Bhujour, Nepal, along with two workers from Meghalaya identified as John and Fenaal.
Emerging reports reveal that the workers were engaged in extracting illegal coal from the rat-hole mine when the landslide occurred, trapping them inside.
Rescue efforts are currently underway to locate and retrieve the missing coal miners, as fears persist regarding their survival.
The Ledo-Margherita region, located approximately 571 km from the capital Guwahati, is naturally endowed with abundant coal reserves found in the foothills of Patkai.
However, the mining activities have not only endangered the lives of workers but have also had a significant impact on the indigenous communities residing in the region.
The original inhabitants of the Patkai hill region, including Singpho, Sema Nagas, Tangsa, Tai-Phake, Syam, Aitom, Nocte, and others, have been adversely affected by the mining and deforestation in the area.
Many of them have been forced to migrate to Arunachal Pradesh’s Tirap district due to the adverse effects of mining activities.
Concerns over illegal coal mining activities in the region have been raised previously by various groups.
In May 2023, the Opposition Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) claimed that the state was losing nearly Rs 2,000 crore in revenue every month due to rampant illegal rat-hole coal mining in the Tinsukia district.
Again, in July 2023, the All Adivasi Student Association of Assam (AASAA) had alleged that the Margherita region of Tinsukia district witnessed mass migration due to fears of landslides and erosion caused by illegal coal mining.
