Guwahati, Jan 10 (PTI) Dewatering continued for the second consecutive day on Friday in the coal mine in Assam's Dima Hasao district, where eight miners remained trapped since January 6, to facilitate the resumption of rescue operations, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
He said that the mine was declared abandoned 12 years ago and not illegal, as he had suspected earlier.
The 'sardar' of workers of the coal mine, who had fled after the mine was flooded on Monday, was arrested, Sarma said.
The fate of the eight miners still trapped inside the illegal quarry appeared grim with time racing against them. The body of one labourer, hailing from Nepal, was recovered from there on Monday.
The divers from army and navy could not go inside the quarry for the second day in a row as dewatering of the mine, which is 340 feet deep, continued, a district official said.
“It was not an illegal mine but an abandoned one. The workers had entered the mine that day for the first time to extract coal (after it was declared abandoned),” Sarma said at a media briefing after the cabinet meeting.
The mine was abandoned 12 years ago and was legally under the Assam Mineral Development Corporation till three years ago, he said.
Regarding the rescue operations, Sarma said that dewatering has been continuing since Thursday and “only if water is pumped out of the wells, we can expect some results”.
Another machine has been brought in from Nagpur and it will be operated from Saturday morning, he said adding if it functions properly, the accumulated water is expected to be cleared by the evening.
“If it does not function, then the machine that was used for the last two days will continue with the dewatering job and it will take another 48 hours to clear it,” he said.
Asked about the exact number of workers trapped inside the quarry, the CM said family members of nine workers have contacted the authorities and one body has been recovered so far.
It was initially reported that 11 workers were trapped inside.
Regarding the alleged involvement of a family member of Dima Hasao Autonomous Council's Chief Executive Member (CEM) Debolal Gorlosa in the incident, the chief minister said, “This is a human tragedy and we should not politicise it.” A senior official said that the leader of the miners, who had fled the quarry site soon after the incident on January 6, was arrested on Thursday night after an extensive search operation from a place in Umrangshu.
The arrested person has been identified as Hanan Laskar and he was the leader of the group of workers that went inside the mine, he said.
Earlier, the lease-holder of the mine, Punish Nunisa, was held on Tuesday in connection with the case, the official said.
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.
A case was registered in connection with the incident at the mine which appears to be ‘illegal’, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said.
Nine labourers were trapped inside the mine after a sudden gush of water flooded the mine and the body of one labourer has been recovered so far.
Dewatering of the quarry has been continuing with specialised machines brought in by ONGC and Coal India.
The divers from the navy and the army will go down into the mine again to conduct rescue operations after considerable water is cleared.
Navy, army, Assam Rifles, NDRF, SDRF and civil administration are engaged in the rescue operations and are positioned at the site, the official said. PTI DG NN
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