Guwahati, Jan 9 (PTI) The opposition on Thursday slammed the Assam government over the mining tragedy, saying the incident happened due to "utter negligence" of the administration and demanded a judicial probe for strict action against the culprits.
While the Congress announced a sit-in across all district headquarters on Friday, several sister organisations of CPI(M) staged demonstrations in Guwahati to protest the adminstration's "negligence".
Rescue operations by multiple state and central agencies continued for the fourth day on Thursday to locate trapped miners inside an illegal rat-hole coal mine in Dima Hasao district of Assam.
The labourers were on Monday trapped inside the 3-Kilo Coal Quarry in Umrangso area, around 250 km from Guwahati, after a sudden gush of water flooded the site. Body of one miner was retrieved, while eight are still missing.
"In such a massive tragedy, police, CBI, Income Tax — all are silent. Will any action be taken by the law enforcing agencies to nab the culprits behind this tragedy?" Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah told reporters here.
He demanded the immediate arrest of the persons behind the coal syndicate in Assam and ensure the safety of industrial workers.
"In protest against the incident, the Congress will hold sit-in demonstrations across all district headquarters tomorrow. No inquiry has been ordered till now and the government is not taking any action to arrest the culprits," Borah alleged.
Left groups like CITU, SFI and DYFI held a joint protest in Guwahati and demanded strict action against the perpetrators.
"The incident happened due to the utter negligence of the government. All prevalent laws were flouted in this mine. All those responsible are being protected by the government. There were no safety measures at all," CITU Assam state general secretary Tapan Sarma said.
The BJP-led government has the least concern for the workers and their only motive is to earn money through all possible means even if it is illegal, he alleged.
The Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) accused the government of engaging in a cover-up by arresting a "proxy culprit" instead of the real ones.
"This diversionary tactic aims to shield the massive coal smuggling racket flourishing in Assam under political and administrative patronage. Large-scale illegal coal mining, transportation, syndicate operations, and black money circulation have long been active," AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi said.
To expose the corrupt practices and real truth, the opposition party has demanded a high-level judicial investigation, he added.
"Rat-hole coal mining is banned by both the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal. Despite this, illegal coal mining has continued unabated in Tinsukia, Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao districts with coal transported through Assam's highways in violation of the law," Gogoi alleged.
Trinamool Congress Assam unit too demanded a judicial probe and adequate compensation to the affected families.
"There are several unanswered questions after this tragedy. Who is the owner of this mine? Is it not an illegal mine? Then how could this mine function for so long?" TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev asked.
A senior official of Assam Police on Thursday confirmed to PTI that it was a "completely rat-hole mine", which is totally illegal after a ban by the authorities.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had banned rat-hole mining in 2014. However, coal is still extracted by this dangerous method in the Northeast. PTI TR TR MNB
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