Judicial Enquiry Ordered Into Assam Mine Accident, Special Probe Team Set Up

The Assam government on Thursday announced a judicial enquiry and a police Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the Umrangso coal mine incident, in which nine workers were trapped with bodies of four victims recovered so far.

It also declared an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the victims, even as officials said that suspected seepage of fresh water from underground streams has slowed down the dewatering process.

A coal mine in the Umrangso area of Dima Hasao district was flooded on January six when water had gushed in suddenly, trapping nine workers inside. Four bodies have been recovered since then in the rescue operations.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, announcing decisions taken at a Cabinet meeting at Morigaon, said, "We discussed in detail about the Umrangso tragedy and officials deputed at the incident site gave a presentation of the situation on ground." He said as per the assessment of agencies like the Geological Survey of India, Coal India, OIL, NDRF, Army and Navy, engaged at the incident site, about 1,400 crore litres of water was present in the mine.

"About 400 crore litres has been pumped out so far and, if the dewatering continues at the current rate, it will take about 25 to 60 days for the process to be completed. We have told the agencies to continue with the process in the presence of the army till we reach the logical conclusion," the CM added.

Sarma said the chances of survival of the remaining five miners are "slim" now and announced Rs 10 lakh compensation to families of all the nine workers.

He said the Cabinet approved a judicial enquiry into the incident, with Justice (Retd) Anima Hazarika to head the one-person committee and submit its report to the government within three months.

"The DGP has been asked to form a SIT for criminal enquiry into the incident and the Justice Hazarika committee will monitor the SIT. Those responsible for it will be punished," he added.

The CM said that 220 similar rat-hole coal mines have been located in the same area and satellite mapping technology will be used to determine the time when these quarries were first opened.

"The Revenue and Disaster Management department has been asked to carry it out and seek help of ISRO or even foreign agencies to establish the timeline," he said.

Sarma added that the process for filing up these quarries will also be started in consultation with Central Mine Planning and Design Institute.

Meanwhile, officials in Dima Hasao said operations to rescue the remaining five miners are being hampered by suspected seepage of fresh water from underground streams which is slowing down the dewatering process.

Even as several pumps remained pressed into action to dewater the mine, water continued to recede at a slow pace thus delaying rescue operations, they said.

"Water is being continuously pumped out. But it has been slow as it is now suspected that fresh water from some source underground keeps replenishing it," they said.

The officials said NDRF, SDRF and Army personnel remained engaged in the rescue operations, while navy divers were withdrawn.

The general officer commanding (GOC) of Spear Corps, Lt Gen Abhijit S Pendharkar, visited the site and interacted with the specialist army troops, Assam Rifles and other agencies involved in the rescue operations, the Spear Corps said in a post on X.

It said army divers are undertaking regular search operations in coordination with other agencies.

Sappers have been assisting the civil administration for over ten days and are currently involved in pumping out water using 15 pumps at a rate of 7.9 lakh litres per hour, it added.

"The Corps Commander appreciated the commitment of the troops and all individuals involved in the operation and exhorted them to be relentless in their efforts to aid the civil administration," the post in the Spears Corps official X account added. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)