Two persons have been arrested in the Meghalaya coal mine explosion, in which the death toll rose to 25 from 18 on Friday.
A leading civil society organisation, in a letter to the governor, demanded a CBI inquiry into the mishap because the “catastrophe” reflected a “systemic collapse driven by sustained political protection of illegal coal mining”.
Director-general of police, I. Nongrang, revealed the arrest of the two persons as well as the recovery of seven more bodies from the illegal mine in Umsngat village in East Jaintia Hills district. Twelve bodies have been identified, out of which three are from neighbouring Assam.
"With these developments, the total death toll has risen to 25. Out of the recovered deceased, 17 bodies have been identified and handed over to their respective relatives after completion of all necessary legal formalities," the police said.
The National Green Tribunal had banned rat-hole coal mining in the state in 2014 because of the damage it caused to the ecology and safety concerns but such unscientific mining is on in the state, as evident from the mishaps that take place from time to time.
At least three mining mishaps have taken place in the state this year alone despite the ban, reports said.
The Hynniewtrep Integrated Territorial Organisation (HITO), a leading civic society organisation, submitted a petition to the governor in connection with the latest catastrophe at an illegal coal mine in the Mynsyngat-Thangsko area of East Jaintia Hills, where a large number of bodies are being recovered and further recoveries are underway.
HITO asserted “without ambiguity: this was not an accident, not a mishap, and not an unforeseeable tragedy".
“Illegal coal mining in East Jaintia Hills has continued openly for years despite clear judicial prohibitions, repeated monitoring mechanisms, and public assurances by successive governments. Operations of this scale cannot exist without political patronage, deliberate non-enforcement, and advance protection. Every death emerging from these pits is therefore not incidental but the outcome of political decisions and political silence,” the HITO said.
