Digital Desk: The Assam government handed over ex-gratia payments of Rs. 10 lakh each to the families of four deceased workers in the Umrangso Coal Mine Tragedy. Minister for Mines and Minerals Kaushik Rai distributed the cheques in the presence of the Chief Executive Member(CEM) of the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council, Debolal Garlosa.
Families of five trapped miners in the coal mine also received Rs. 6 lakh each as compensation. These five families will receive the remaining amount of Rs. 4 lakh later.
Offering the cheques, Minister Kaushik Rai mourned the death of the coal mine workers and expressed his condolences to the miners' families. He said that the tragedy had deeply saddened everyone. He also added that no compensation can match a person's life, however, it was part of support to the victims' families.
He also urged all the families to remain calm and strong during this tough situation and assured all possible efforts and support in the future.
Minister Rai informed that dewatering efforts are underway at the mine. Around 1 crore liters of water are removed daily from the mine.
Several departments, including the NDRF, SDRF, and Indian Army, are working tirelessly in the rescue operation of the other five miners. The navy divers were withdrawn from the operation on January 14 as the chances of survival of the other five trapped mines appeared to be slim.
Till now, 4 of the 9 miners' dead bodies were recovered. They were identified as Ganga Bahadur Shrestha (Nepal), Lijan Magar (Umrangso), Khushi Mohan Rai (Kokrajhar), and Sarat Goyary (Sonitpur).
The workers were trapped in the coal mine at 3 Kilo, Umrangso since January 6 after water gushed in from a nearby mine.
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