Judge, activist blew whistle on deaths in Meghalaya mines – days before third explosion killed 23

Days before 23 people were killed in an explosion in an illegal coal mine in Meghalaya, an activist and a retired judge flagged a series of deaths from similar explosions in illegal rat-hole mines in the same area.

Their warnings went unheeded.

On January 8, activist Agnes Kharshiing wrote to the director of Central Bureau of Investigation, alleging that the police were covering up a blast on December 23 in an illegal mine in Thangsko area in East Jaintia Hills. A 34-year-old worker died in the explosion, she said, urging the CBI to investigate the case.

On January 17, a committee appointed by Meghalaya High Court flagged another accident in Thangsko area, in which at least one person was killed in a blast in an illegal coal mine. “My report said there should be some action,” retired Gauhati High Court judge Brojendra Prasad Katakey told Scroll.

The High Court had appointed Katakey to monitor the implementation of the ban on rat-hole mining, which entails digging small vertical pits to reach the mineral, often making it dangerous for miners. The ban had been imposed by the National Green Tribunal in 2014 on the grounds that the rathole technique was unsafe and unscientific.

Katakey added: “I had also informed district officials [about the illegal operations in Thangsko] in a meeting held in Shillong.”

But days later, an explosion in an illegal mine in the area on February 5 led to the deaths of 18 people. The death toll has since climbed to 23.

On Friday, the Meghalaya High Court took suo motu cognisance of the series of accidents, and directed senior district officials to appear in person on February 9 to explain why no action was taken despite the deaths.

‘Deep inside the earth’

On Friday, four bodies were recovered from the accident site, Vikash Kumar, superintendent of police of East Jaintia Hills, told Scroll. Another person succumbed to his injuries at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences.

The dead workers were from Assam, Meghalaya and Nepal.

“They were working in the coal quarry, which was about 150-200 feet deep inside the earth,” Iqbal Ahmed, whose cousins Dilowar Hussian and Anowar Hussian died in the mine blast, told Scroll. The two men were from Assam’s Cachar district.

Iqbal visited Thangsko on Thursday to bring back the bodies. He said the death toll could be higher.

Around 50-60 people were working in one mine, which was connected to two other underground pits, he said. In all, around 200-odd miners work in the three mines.

Workers were setting off explosions in one mine to break the coal and stone, he said, when the fire spread. “I have seen 25-30 bodies myself,” he told Scroll. “The body parts are scattered. Many are still inside.”

A blast in December and the first warning

On January 1, a 34-year-old man died of burn injuries at the Shillong civil hospital, according to Kharshiing.

In her complaint on January 8, she reported that Ashok Tamang had died in a dynamite blast in Thangsko, which falls under the Khliehriat police’s jurisdiction, on December 23. “Several others also sustained injuries,” the complaint read. No first information report was registered.

The Highland Post reported the death of a second person, allegedly an undocumented Bangladeshi national, in the same blast.

Kharshiing alleged that the police authorities had ignored the incident “to protect the illegal coal mining extraction, which shows the connivance of the authorities and district administration with the coal mafia, some politicians and some bureaucrats of Meghalaya. She asked the CBI director to investigate “and register a criminal case”.

The CBI said the matter was out of its jurisdiction and forwarded Kharshiing’s complaint to the state chief secretary on January 23. Scroll has seen a copy of this letter.

Scroll contacted Meghalaya chief secretary, asking what action it had taken on the CBI letter. He did not respond to our calls and text messages. The story will be updated if he does.

When asked about Tawang’s death, Kumar, the deputy commissioner of East Jaintia Hills, confirmed the December 23 explosion. On the CBI forwarding Kharshiing’s letter, he told Scroll, “I will check and verify it.”

Tamang, Kharshiing told Scroll, is married to a woman from Ladrymbai. They have four children.

“Illegal coal mining is carried out openly in the area with the protection of those in power,” Kharshiing said. “Overloaded trucks ply openly on national highways carrying coal and accidents are covered up. Tamang’s death would have been hidden too, but a local died so it came out in the news.”

The court panel

On January 17, the court-appointed committee led by retired judge Katakey filed an interim report, flagging illegal mining operations in East Jaintia Hills district. “I submitted a report last month in the Meghalaya High Court that illegal coal mining activity was going on in this area, specifically in Thangsko,” Katakey told Scroll.

Katakey reported that the district was one of the worst-affected by rat-hole mining in the state and that illegal extraction of coal carried on unhindered.

The report also alerted the court about the explosion on January 14 that killed at least one person.

On February 6, the Meghalaya High Court while initiating suo motu action observed that “it is reported that there has been explosions in three illegal coal mines which has resulted in the loss of life and injuries to several persons," the court order read. “It is not understood as to how illegal coal mining is continuing in this area in spite of the reported loss of life of one person on January 14.”

The court demanded the immediate arrest of coal mine owners and operators. It directed the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police, East Jaintia Hills to appear in person, with the details of the action taken and to furnish reasons as to why the situation was allowed to continue.

In the past, Katakey’s reports have helped nail the widespread continuance of illegal rat-hole coal mining in Meghalaya despite a blanket ban since 2014.