DIMA HASAO: At least 220 illegal “rat hole” coal mines have been detected around the flooded mine at Umrangso in Assam’s Dima Hasao district, in which nine workers got trapped on January 6, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday.
After a cabinet meeting in central Assam’s Morigaon district, Sarma told reporters that as per a report submitted by the Dima Hasao district administration, many animals also died after falling into such open coal mines, and so the government will analyze the satellite data of how and when these mines came up for necessary action.
“These mines were identified during the investigation about how this incident happened. As these mines are resulting in the deaths of many animals, the government is now planning to take the help of the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute to plug those. But this is going to be a challenging job,” Sarma said.
“According to assessment by experts, there are around 14 crore litres of water in the well, and about four crore litres have been flushed out. Our officials today told the Cabinet that dewatering the well may take up to 60 days.” The CM announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 10 lakh each to family members of the nine workers.