Hope fades for men trapped in Assam coal mine as a body is recovered

The body recovered was of Ganga Bahadur Srestho (38), a resident of Nepal’s Udayapur district. He was among the team of miners working in a rat hole mine in the Umrangso coal reserves and got trapped on Monday morning after the mine was flooded with water.

His body was recovered in a joint rescue operation by the Army and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) early on Wednesday morning. Search and rescue operations continued throughout the day, including by a team of deepsea divers from the Navy, with the help of sonar equipment.

#WATCH | UPDATE | Dima Hasao, Assam: One body recovered from the coal mine at 3 Kilo, Umrangso area where 9 people were trapped on January 6. Search and rescue operation is still underway. pic.twitter.com/q4KvJQjQvJ

— ANI (@ANI) January 8, 2025

The biggest challenge facing the rescue teams is the level of flooding in the approximately 300-foot central pit of the mines and a lack of adequate equipment at the site to pump it out. Officials said water had reached up to 200 feet.

Until Tuesday, rescuers were using just one motor to pump out the water. On Tuesday, a heavy-duty motor pump from ONGC Silchar reached the site and the dewatering process continued even after the search and rescue operations winded up for the day. Officials said efforts are on to source a heavy suction pump to aid this process.

Meanwhile, Opposition parties have questioned how illegal mining activities were being conducted in the area.

Hasao has widespread coal, limestone and granite quarrying activities, and the coal reserves of Umrangso have been leased by the state government-run Assam Mining Development Corporation (AMDC). However, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that the mine in which the workers are trapped appeared to be an illegal one.

On Tuesday, Dima Hasao police registered a case under charges of culpable homicide and conducting mining operations in violation of the provisions of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957. One man was arrested.

Assam Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi demanded the creation of an SIT to investigate illegal coal mining in Assam.

Indian Navy men prepare their equipment to rescue workers who are trapped inside a coal mine in Assam. (Photo: AP)

“Our prayers are with everyone and we want them to be reunited with their families… From the information we have from media reports, there was mining happening in a completely illegal manner there. So, what was the BJP government doing? What were the guardian ministers doing? What was the district administration doing? We are also worried about this and we want an SIT to be set up,” he said.

The Asom Jatiya Parishad called the arrest of just one person an attempt to “deflect blame”.

“This is an attempt to falsely portray one individual as responsible for illegal mining while ignoring systemic collusion between government agencies and law enforcement… Defying Supreme Court orders on this scale could not have happened without the Chief Minister’s tacit approval. If he was unaware, why has he not ordered the immediate arrest of the responsible district officials and AMDCL director?” the party asked.