Call to release judicial probe report on Dima Hasao mine tragedy

The Hindu

2 days ago

GUWAHATI
An organisation in central Assam's Dima Hasao district has urged the State government to make public the findings of the judicial commission that probed the rat-hole coal mine tragedy of January 6 in the Umrangso area.
Nine persons were trapped in a flooded mine that was allegedly being operated illegally. Their bodies were recovered following a 44-day search and rescue operation led by the Indian Navy, the National Disaster Response Force, and other agencies.
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The judicial inquiry, headed by retired Gauhati High Court judge Anima Hazarika, was constituted to investigate the incident. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had on January 16 stated that the commission would submit its report within three months.
However, Daniel Langthasa, convenor of the Sixth Schedule Protection Committee, criticised the delay and the lack of updates on the report. 'The government has exceeded the three-month deadline to submit the report by another three months. It is disconcerting that the people involved in the illegal activities are yet to be punished,' he said.
Debolal Gorlosa, Chief Executive Member of the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC), which governs the district, faced criticism when his wife was accused of having a stake in the ill-fated mine.
Following the tragedy, the police arrested several individuals for operating the mine in defiance of the National Green Tribunal's (NGT) blanket ban. Among those arrested was one Punish Nunisa.
Mr. Langthasa, a former NCHAC member, pointed out that families of victims of several such coal mine incidents in the district have not received justice. 'How did rat-hole coal mining continue in the district when the NGT banned it in April 2014?' he asked.
In the aftermath of the Umrangso incident, district authorities identified 220 illegal mines in the region. Subsequently, the Chief Minister had stated that the State Mines and Minerals Department would act to shut down such mines in consultation with central agencies.
'It would be naive to believe that the NCHAC had no knowledge of the existence of so many illegal mines within its jurisdiction,' Mr. Langthasa said.
He also voiced concern over a series of unresolved deaths and kidnappings in the district, which has witnessed violence in the past involving extremist groups such as the Dima Halam Daogah.
'The families of several people killed or abducted in recent years are still awaiting justice,' he said, recalling the murder of his father, Nindu Langthasa, a former council member, and former Chief Executive Member Purnendu Langthasa in 2007.
'The district is facing an unprecedented social crisis. Youths are turning to drugs and crime over the last four to five years, indicating a deep disillusionment with those in power,' he added.
Mr. Langthasa further alleged that land in the district, protected under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, was being handed over to private players.
'The council is empowered to safeguard customary and land laws. But land is now being allocated to private parties for coke and other industries without consulting village authorities,' he said.