Though the East Jaiñtia Hills District administration yesterday has identified three of the five miners trapped or dead in Sunday’s Umpleng-Sutnga mine mishap, media based in Assam where most of the labourers are from, claims that the number could be as high as 14.
The ‘Somayik Prasanga’, a Cachar district based daily headlined fears that “in one more lethal Meghalaya mine accident, 14 feared dead.” Quoting sources from among those who were there on ground zero, the newspaper alleged that there were as many as 14 people in the mine pit when the accident happened and none had came out.
But confirming this is tough as all the people working there including the sordar have gone into hiding. They will not speak out as they fear the coal mafia which does not want the true extent of the tragedy to be made public.
The rat hole mining areas are shrouded in secrecy and fear. As illegal mining goes on, a kind of omerta law prevails in the Jaiñtia Hills as anyone talking about it could get targeted as it has happened in the past.
