By Nabamita Mitra
It is an eerie coincidence that I watched The 33, a movie based on the true incident of 33 trapped miners in Chile in 2010, at a time when Meghalaya is facing an almost similar crisis. Thirty-three miners were trapped in a Chilean gold mine, 2,200 ft beneath the surface, in August 2010. After a tenuous rescue operation, all the 33 were brought out alive after more than two months. The emancipated humans were showered with hugs and kisses as they came out of the refuge in the mine, which was precariously placed beneath a chunk of diorite, in a capsule lugged up by a trolley.
There are several differences between the two incidents as have been pointed out by reports so far — the most important is that the Chilean mine was not flooded and the miners there had supply of food for a few weeks. There is another stark difference between the two incidents separated by miles and oceans. It is that of sensitivity and alacrity. These can be attributed to one, lack of sincerity, and two, lack of infrastructure, or in other words, failure of successive governments.
Yet, as I watched the movie, I found several similarities too, more emotional than practical. The families’ hope and dejection, which kept altering depending on the government’s response, are similar. The pressure on the government to perform too is similar. What is strikingly dissimilar is the response of and the sense of responsibility among those in power.
The 15 miners or maybe 16 (claim of one more family has not been officially confirmed), who were trapped in the illegal mine in East Jaintia Hills, were dead long back, and this, everyone knew — the government, the families, the media and the rescue workers. But hope was floating in the water-filled 350-foot coal pit. Why? Because it is difficult for any person to accept the death of a loved one!
Down there inside the rat-hole mine, which according to the head of the state never existed, were the loved ones of someone or the other though none of the dead miners is related to any minister or police or the head of the district administration. Probably this is the reason why those in power wanted to hush up the tragedy and local police initially denied that such incident had taken place on Day 1,that is December 13.
But as the stench of wrongdoings spread, the government went on the back foot. The chief minister suddenly developed amnesia and continued to change his statements on illegal mining. Mr Chief Minister, a busy man with hundreds of responsibilities, was too tied up to find time to visit the mining site though he holds the portfolio of mining department. He, however, sent his commanders who went to the site as VIPs, spent enough time for the media to cover the visits and returned like VIPs.
The deputy commissioner had to visit the site as he was bound by duty but apparently he did not forget to get dressed to the nines every time he made an appearance. On the day the miners, or their bodies, completed a month inside the airless claustrophobic pit, the chief secretary went on a courtesy visit. It is not that in this one month Meghalaya saw a drastic transformation on all fronts, including development, but the chief minister and his coterie kept acting as if they had little time to spare. None, especially the mining minister, bothered to spend even a day at the site just to supervise the rescue or retrieval operations. In fact, so much was the scepticism in the government that the media was walled off.
Meghalaya, over the years, has made headlines for illegal mining. The recent incident could have been a turning point to better its image. The government could have acted fast and brought out the bodies in time. It could have won accolades for exemplary efforts had it shown more concern. But the entire operation turned farcical as the best of the country’s experts failed.
What is more pitiable is the authorities’ stark apathy to even understand the families’ sentiments. They were more worried about how to lift the existing ban on coal mining than bringing back the dead, at least. If this is the attitude of the government led by a young chief minister, then should the common have faith in his authority?