(Representational)Five workers, four from Assam and one from Tripura, went missing after an illegal coal mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills (EJH) district got flooded following a dynamite explosion on Sunday evening, police said. Jagpal Singh Dhanoa, SP of EJH district, said, “The main culprit, according to the eyewitnesses is the ‘sordar’ Nizam Ali, who did nothing to rescue the trapped labourers. Speaking to The Indian Express, the SP said that it appears the mine was operating illegally and search operation is on for the five trapped labourers. Coal mining in Meghalaya hit the headlines when at least 15 workers got trapped and died inside a mine in Ksan in the EJH district in 2018. Activists argue that coal mining through the rat-hole technique flouts most of the environmental safeguard protocols.

Source: Indian Express May 31, 2021 22:19 UTC