HC notice to Assam on January 6 mine disaster

GUWAHATI: Gauhati HC took suo moto notice of the rat-hole coal mine disaster at Umrangso in Assam's Dima Hasao district and gave the state govt until Feb 7 to file an action-taken report, reports Mukut Das. The mine was flooded on Jan 6, trapping nine miners. While rescue teams recovered four bodies, five miners remain untraced so far.

The court cited various media reports, which said there are over 200 rat-hole mines in Umrangso. It noted rat-hole mining is rampant in Karbi Anglong and it is either going unnoticed or, authorities are not taking any action to stop or close those rat-hole mines despite having knowledge of the illegal activity..