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(The story was first published on 9 April 2019. It has been removed from the archives of Quint in the light of Telangana SLBC Tunnel Rescue.)
camera person: Tridip K Mandal
video editor: Puneet Bhatia
On 13 December 2018, 15 miners found themselves trapped in a rat-torn coal mine, deep inside the forest in East Jantia Hills, Meghalaya. The incident of mining was contrary to any other, as the miners were trapped in the flooded ‘illegal’ rat-torn mine in Kasana.
Despite the ban on rat-tendon mining implemented by the National Green Tribunal in 2014, the accident exposed the coal mining racket in the East Jantia Hills.
“We came to know because some trapped miners were from Garo Hills. Some workers who managed to escape were also from Garo Hills. He managed to reach his home. He informed his local MLA about the incident. ,
Sannio siangshai, Journalist, The Shillong Times
The coal seam in Meghalaya is between 2 to 4 meters in width. To reach that layer of coal below the Earth’s surface, a vertical pit is dug. A rat-torn quarry has a depth of about 500 feet. Using a picax, the miners who remove the coal have to climb 500 feet below in the mine. Once on the bottom, they crawl horizontally up to about 500 feet. It is very risky because miners can hit another abandoned mine, which may collapse, or a mine that is filled with water, causing flooding.
According to the 6th schedule of the Constitution in Meghalaya, the community is owned by its land and has one on the nature of its use.
“The attitude of the people here in the Eastern Gentia Hills of the people is that they want to do mining. They feel that mining is their only livelihood. There is also the mindset of the people (SIC) that “this is my land. I have the right to do anything with my land. ,
Sannio siangshai, journalist, The Shillong Times
But in 2014, the National Green Tribunal found coal mining extremely harmful for the region’s ecology, where water bodies and rivers were becoming acidic. It was also insecure for miners and was a risk for human life.
In 2014, when mining was banned in Meghalaya, coal production was about 6 million tonnes annually. For 9 metric tons of coal carrying each truck, the state was earning around Rs 6,700 on a daily basis. Thousands of trucks were transporting coal daily. And each truck was loaded with about 30 metric tons of coal, about three times the prescribed amount. Revenue leakage resulted in huge profits and easy money.
With a banned ban, easy money stopped flowing and most political parties wanted the ban to be lifted.
“In the final assembly elections, NPP, BJP promised people that coal mining ban would be lifted in 180 days. Now the NPP -led government in the state has not done so. ,
Sannio siangshai, journalist, The Shillong Times
“They are raising the issue of coal because there is money in this business. They need it for elections. ,
Egnes Kholening, Humanrites and RTI Activist
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