Guwahati, July 03: Two coal miners, believed to be from Meghalaya, have died in Assam’s Tinsukia district due to suspected gas poisoning. This incident comes nearly a month after a rat-hole mining tragedy in the same area claimed three lives, including two from Meghalaya.
According to local sources, the miners were found unconscious in the Dharna Basti area of Lidu Pahar in Tinsukia on the evening of July 1. They were immediately rushed to the Margherita FRU for treatment, but doctors declared them brought dead. The bodies were subsequently handed over to Margherita police station.
Local residents allege that both victims were involved in illegal rat-hole mining operations in Ledo, reportedly run by a local trader.
Despite the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ban and strict guidelines from state authorities, illegal rat-hole mining continues to persist in the region.
On June 21, a 7-member Assam assembly delegation conducted a field inspection of illegal coal trade and rat-hole mining activities in Tinsukia.
The previous incident on May 25 involved a landslide and cave-in at a mining site between Bargolai and Namdang in the Patkai hills, near the Arunachal Pradesh border in Tinsukia. Two Khasi laborers from Meghalaya’s Ri-Bhoi district, John Nongrum from Jatah village and Phiniellin Umbah from Korhadem village, lost their lives.
