The Thangsko mine explosion, a catastrophic incident in East Jaintia Hills, has left a profound impact on the State. It is the biggest coal mine disaster in the state with 27 dead. That’s far more than the numbers that died in the Ksan rat hole mining disaster. Fifteen died in this soul searing disaster as rescue operations dragged on for months in the mine which is in the same district. Another mine collapse was in Nongalbibra, in 2012 where 15 people died. Bred in the “mafia” culture of silence, Meghalayans in general are sceptical about these figures. They believe the number of the dead is far more than officially announced. In between, there have been mine collapses and deaths galore, some come to the surface and reported in the Press by newspapers like the Highland Post, but most are suppressed by the network locally referred to as the ‘High level’ referring to the nexus of the ruling elite with the mine owners ( who are often the same people or their pawns) and the state police and bureaucracy who have diligently kept a blind eye, and over the years of many incidents have not been able to find even a single rat-hole mine in the East Jaintia Hills district, where the Supreme Court appointed NGT committee had in the aftermath of the Ksan disaster, identified 24,000 rat-hole mine pits there.
If not ashamed, the Thangsko incident has dramatically altered the lives of many. The tragedy continued with the grim task of recovery of miners falling upon the shoulders of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and others. For the families of the victims, the incident has resulted in unimaginable grief and uncertainty. For a State that continues to deny any traces of illegal coal mining taking place since the NGT ban in 2014 points to systemic failure.
The relationship between illegal coal mining and political financing in Meghalaya is not a whisper. The ‘high level’ wields powerful influence over local political dynamics. They typically engage in extensive illegal mining operations that not only flout environmental regulations but also endanger the lives of miners and communities. In many instances, the profits accumulated from these illegal activities are used to fund political campaigns, creating a cycle of dependency between politicians and mine owners.
Now is the time for the people to weigh and examine the rhetoric of politicians and the actual remedy to check illegal coal mining. Politicians make commitments of providing financial help, relief funds and aids. While the intentions behind these speeches may appear genuine, a clear pattern emerges: a tendency to prioritize short-term financial assistance over the implementation of sustainable structural changes. Monetary aid is a temporary bandage on a deeply rooted crisis, failing to confront the underlying issues that facilitate hazardous mining. One can only hope that this incident has blasted open the cover-up the State had been engaged in all this time and that they will be forced to take steps to honestly rehabilitate the scarred land and the people who depend on those lands for sustenance. Perhaps, this will also end the false narrative of the rulers that rat-hole mining is the traditional livelihood of the indigenous people. It was not. Period.
