Guwahati, Sept 10: Namdang, situated at eastern Assam Tinsukia district has now become a hub of illegal coal mining because the coal smugglers has been exploiting the natural resources.
Namdang falls under the Margherita sub-division and is just 508.3 km from Guwahati.
During a sudden raid conducted by the authorities from Arunachal Pradesh’s Changlang district, three excavators were seized from an illegal coal mining site in Namdang.
Later, as the location was found to be under the jurisdiction of the Lekhapani forest range in Margherita sub-division of eastern Assam’s Tinsukia district, the seized excavators were handed over to the authorities in Assam for further investigation and legal action.
It might be mentioned that there have been allegations of illegal coal mining in the area for quite some time now. An FIR has been filed in this regard, and an investigation is underway.
Illegal coal mining:
Illegal coal mining has been going on unabated in the Namdang area, but the authorities have failed to act after knowing everything about the business. Every day, truck loads of coal were transported to other places from Margherita.
The coal mafias of Margherita-Ledo are engaging many workers to extract coal from the coal mining site. Rat-hole mining has mushroomed in the area, but despite repeated requests from environmentalists, the authorities concerned failed to act.
“The coal smugglers are destroying the Patkai mountain. The illegal extraction of coal has now become a toy game for the smugglers. On the other hand, the authorities, after knowing everything, turned a blind eye to the incidents,” said a source.
“The coal smugglers are very powerful because they have their own security and have political connections.” Insurgent groups are also involved with them, and together, the whole process has been done. Everybody has a share in the illegal coal mining operating in Tinsukia and some parts of Arunachal Pradesh. Many illegal rat-hole mines are functioning in the area,” the source said.
The illegal coal mining in the area has been a big issue because the locals are also involved in the racket of extracting coal from the Patkai hills through illegal means. Rat-hole miming is the most common practice in the region, and the coal mafias engaged the coal thieves to extract coal from the rat-hole mines.
The extraction of coal in Ledo-Margherita is done along the foothills of the Namdang hills using a range of techniques.
Locals from the neighbouring villages and migrant daily labourers dig out coal with sharp tools, which are carried in gunny bags and deposited at specific locations.
“The authority concerned should check the issue. If timely action is not taken, biodiversity will be destroyed,” said an environmentalist.
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