Meghalaya Police call miner death reports ‘baseless’ amid illegal mining claims
East Jaintia Hills police dismissed reports of three miners’ deaths in illegal coal mines, even as sources and a panel report flag ongoing rat-hole mining.
A file image of rat hole mine (AT Image)
SHillong, Dec 9: The East Jaintia Hills district administration on Monday dismissed media reports of three miners being killed in an illegal coal mine as “baseless.”
“That’s just a rumour and there is no such incident. We have verified from all local sources, inquiry has been conducted,” Vikash Kumar, Superintendent of Police, East Jaintia Hills, said.
However, sources said illegal coal mining is continuing in several areas of the district. The one-man BP Katakey committee in its 34th report has similarly said that illegal coal mining is continuing, especially in East Jaintia Hills.
“There are rat-hole mines in East Jaintia Hills district and mining is going on and three tribal miners from the State have died. However, nobody wants to report these incidents due to fear as these mines are operated illegally,” the sources said.
The sources say a few months back a miner died in another coal mine in the area and this unfortunate death too has gone unreported due to intimidation from the coal mafia. “Sometimes the miners’ bodies are not retrieved and the small rat-holes are closed by dumping soil,” the sources added.
“There are no miners in the area, so how can miners die,” the SP countered. When pointed about the one-man committee report, the SP, East Jaintia Hills, Kumar, said all the directions from the committee are being followed.
“We are doing our best within our capacity, sometimes due to lack of resources some incidents occur here and there,” he added.