2012 South Garo Hills mine tragedy
SHILLONG: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday directed the Meghalaya Government to submit the final report on the fate of 15 coal miners in Garo Hills who reportedly went missing after a mine accident in 2012, within February 4.
Expressing unhappiness over the manner in which the State Government had handled the case, the Tribunal, which was chaired by its Judicial Member, Justice MS Nambiar and expert member Ranjan Chatterjee, said that “the State Government cannot wash its hand off the case”.
“There must a logical conclusion to this tragic incident. The fate of the human beings cannot be that of the cattle,” the Tribunal remarked while passing its judgement on Friday.
The Tribunal, while expressing unhappiness over the way the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) carried out search operation in the case, ordered the Assistant Commandant, Officer in-charge of NDRF to “complete the search” of the missing coal miners.
“The skeleton of the miners would still be inside the mines if they were there. They (miners) cannot escape,” the Tribunal observed.
The Tribunal also ordered the mine contractor to furnish all the details of mining activities in 2012 and details of the miners’ “names and addresses” who were engaged during that period.
The NGT directed that all the details be furnished before its next hearing and warned that any violation would be seriously viewed warranting stringent action.
Moreover, the Tribunal also ordered the Meghalaya Government that the names of the six miners, which it has in its possession, must be given wide circulation through newspaper advertisements in Assam, since they belonged to Dhubri district in Assam.
“If the said labourers are alive, they themselves or if they are not alive, their dependents may appear,” the Tribunal said.
The Tribunal further said that the Amicus Curie of the Meghalaya High Court (who was absent during the hearing on Friday) be present during the next hearing and in the event of her inability to attend, a new Amicus Curie should be appointed.
Earlier, the High Court of Meghalaya had filed a sou moto petition on “Threat to life arising out of coal mining in South Garo Hills” on the incident, holding the State Government, coal manager and owner, the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Directorate General of Mines Safety and the Ministry of Coal respondents in the case. The case was subsequently transferred to the NGT.