Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: Post the coal mine disaster at Umrangso in the Dima Hasao district, the Assam Cabinet took a slew of decisions to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.
Speaking to the media after the Cabinet meeting today, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "The cabinet decided to form a judicial inquiry commission headed by Justice (retd) Anima Hazarika to examine the matter related to the Umrangso mine tragedy and fix responsibility against responsible officers, individuals, and institutions. Parallel to the judicial inquiry, the government will constitute an SIT (special investigation team) to enquire into the entire incident on the basis of the FIR already registered on the matter. The judicial commission will monitor the functioning of the SIT."
The Chief Minister said the government would pay Rs 10 lakh each as compensation to the next of kin of the deceased, including those of the five yet to be fished out and the possibility of whose survival is remote.
The Chief Minister further said that the government would form an SOP (Standard Operational Procedure) regarding an effective blanket ban on rat-hole mining in the state. The Mines and Minerals Department would take steps to close all existing rat-hole mines wherever they are found in consultation with the central agencies.
The Chief Minister said that around 220 rat-hole mines have been identified around the areas where the mine disaster occurred. The government would take year-wise satellite data to ascertain since when rat-hole mining has been taking place in the area. The Revenue and Disaster Management Department would take the help of the Central Mine and Design Institute to plug the abandoned rat-hole mines in the area, he said.
The Chief Minister further said that the ill-fated mine at Umrangso was filled with around 14 crore litres of water at the time of the disaster. However, the rescue personnel has dewatered around four crore litres of water as of now, and the personnel need 25 days more to drain out the remaining water. The army engineers would continue to lend support in the dewatering exercise that will continue till the attainment of a logical end, the Chief Minister said.
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