SHILLONG/ JOWAI: A delegation of Congress MLAs shot off a letter to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, with their findings and suggestions after visiting the ill-fated coal mine at Ksan on Friday.
The Congress MLAs included Ampareen Lyngdoh, Mohendro Rapsang, Azad Zaman, local MLA, Shitlang Pale, George Lyngdoh and Himalaya Shangpliang.
In its memorandum, the MLAs said that they had observed several lacunae in the arrangements made by the district administration.
They suggested the East Jaintia Hills deputy commissioner be immediately recalled from leave. They said it is surprising to note that the DC has been allowed to proceed on leave in spite of a disaster of such a scale.
“Precious lives are at stake but officers in charge of the rescue operations has been allowed to go on leave, with no senior officer in charge of the operations,” the memorandum said.
They also said that a senior officer at the level of Commissioner and Secretary should be put in charge of the entire rescue operations and to coordinate with the national and state teams which will improve coordination and decisions can be sped up.
According to the Congress MLAs, an IGP level officer should be deputed to the site and may be asked to coordinate among the NDRF, SDRF and state police.
“There is an immediate need to send good quality tents and basic amenities for the rescue teams as they are operating under very difficult conditions. With the high-power submersible pumps to arrive the logistics for power supply and transport should be made available before hand,” they said.
They also lamented that the medical team identified for the rescue operations is not posted on site and it is sitting at Sutnga PHC and visits only on need-to basis.
“A small medical team should be present on site 24×7. (Contd on P-10)
Congress MLAs ask govt…
(Contd from P-1) If required, additional personnel should be sent from Jowai or Shillong to assist the ones in Sutnga,” the memorandum said.
Talking to reporters at the mine site, Ampareen said, “It is very difficult to blame anybody, either the previous government or the present government but it is a lesson for us and for our people to understand that there are rules and regulations in every work or business we are doing.
The Assistant Commandant, 1st Battalion NDRF, Santosh Kumar Singh briefed them about the complexity of the rescue operations in such a deep coal mine.
Shangpliang said, “We are not playing politics but we are very concerned about all those who are trapped inside this mine.”
He said it is the duty of all MLAs to spare their time and visit this mine and take stock of the situation. “We have come to see what the situation really is,” the legislator added.