GUWAHATI: Meghalaya police have arrested two mine owners of the illegal rat-hole coal mine in East Jaintia Hills district where at least 18 people were killed and another was injured following a dynamite blast on Thursday. Dynamite is used to break rocks for coal extraction.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Superintendent of Police Vikash Kumar told that the arrested owners of the mine are locals. “We are likely to make some more arrests in connection with the case."
Search and rescue operations, being carried out by agencies including National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force, are continuing.
Following the instructions of Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, Ministers Lahkmen Rymbui and Wailadmiki Shylla were on their way to the site of incident.
“We have instructed the police to take full action against those responsible for the incident,” Sangma had stated, warning people against indulging in any illegal coal mining activities.
The state government has ordered a comprehensive inquiry into the incident with Sangma stating that accountability will be fixed. There will be no compromise when it comes to the safety of lives, he said.
Meghalaya has a history of coal mine accidents. In 2018, at least 15 miners had got trapped 370 feet inside an illegal coal mine and despite over two-month-long efforts by multiple agencies, including the Indian Navy, the bodies of only two victims could be retrieved.
High daily wages, which could go up to Rs 2,000 per day, draw a lot of people, especially from Assam, to the Meghalaya coal mines.
The National Green Tribunal had in 2014 imposed a ban on rat-hole mining of coal and its transportation in Meghalaya, concerned over rampant, unregulated and unsafe mining practices.
Despite the ban, the illegal activities continued.