Lives of ‘rat hole’ miners matter too

Another mining ‘accident’ in Assam will barely create a ripple in the collective conscience of the nation, as eight poor labourers( miners) continue to fight with death, while one of them was recovered dead on Wednesday as rescue operations continue. The menace of “rat hole” mines is found commonly in India’s eastern and north-eastern regions. They are often illegal and prone to accidents and disasters due to poor safety conditions. It is but a coincidence that some of these ‘insignificant’ rat hole miners grabbed national attention, and even felicitation when they were ‘used’ in the rescue operations at the Silkaya tunnel disaster.

In the case of the eight trapped miners in Assam, rescuers fear their chances for survival are limited as they are trapped about 300 feet below ground level after water flooded in from a nearby disused mine. On expected lines, the Congress has criticized the Assam government for its failure to enforce the 2014 National Green Tribunal (NGT) ban on illegal rat-hole mining, which continues to be a persistent issue in the state.In contrast, BJP Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma countered by saying that the jurisdictional complexities in the Sixth Schedule areas of Assam, such as the Bodoland Territorial Region and Karbi Anglong, limits the state authority leading to such illegal mining.

Meanwhile, Assam Police have arrested a suspect and initiated an investigation into the violations of mining regulations. Earlier, 15 workers were killed in Meghalaya’s notorious rat-hole mines. The sub-surface and unscientific form of mining was banned by the National Green Tribunal in 2014 but it continues unabated in Meghalaya despite the prohibition. In India, coal mines have claimed over 200 workers between 2015 and 2017. There is alarmingly a contradiction in the actual number of miners trapped in the Assam tragedy. According to employees of the quarry, there were around 15 workers inside the mine, though the authorities did not confirm the number and the chief minister listed the names of only nine trapped labourers. But then, Assam is not new to rat hole mining accidents. In Assam’s Tinsukia district in April 2023, a miner, Pranjal, was discovered dead after being trapped for more than two months inside a rat hole mine.The money from the coal mined from these rat holes, bring a new level of prosperity to the lives of coal mine owners.

Many of them proceed to become contractors, politicians and even ministers in the state government. But the miners themselves crawl (in many cases to their death) into the rat-holes without any safety equipment. Rat-hole mines have encouraged child trafficking as well, since it is easier for children to navigate the narrow tunnels. A majority of the miners who venture into these mines are immigrants from Assam, Nepal and Bangladesh, and are mostly Muslims. They risk their lives for as little as a few hundred rupees a day. The tribal land system in states like Meghalaya, Nagaland, and certain areas in Assam is mainly community or privately based and the landowners have absolute right over resources both on and below the land.

Owing to the state government’s support, bureaucrats and politicians, irrespective of their political affiliations have benefited from rat-hole mining. Nagaland allows “rat hole mining” over coal deposits through private individuals by awarding leases that are called Small Pocket Deposit Licenses. It is high time that a stringent law and even stricter law enforcement is enacted across these states to prevent this dangerous rat hole mining. Politicians, businessmen, and bureaucrats must come out of greed and look at it from a humane point as the lives of these poor migrant rat hole labourers matter too.