Rat-hole mining

Rat-hole mining or rat mining[1] is a process of digging employed in North East India to extract coal, where a narrow hole is manually dug by extraction workers. The practice is banned by the National Green Tribunal;[2][3] however, the technique is still employed by artisanal mining operations in several parts of India, especially in Meghalaya.[4]

Technique

Rat-hole mining is a technique of digging manually[5][6] wherein the worker involved in extraction can hardly crawl in and out, as a narrow tunnel is dug 0.9 to 1.2 metres (3 to 4 ft) deep.[7][8] This technique is of two basic types:

  • The side-cutting method is generally used on hill slopes by navigating through coal seams deposited on the rock layers and visible on the outer surface of rock and generally in darkish brown or black banded.
  • The box-cutting method involves digging a narrow pit up to 120 m (400 ft) deep. The method is used in North Eastern India to extract coal.[9][10]

Bans

As rat-hole mining involves working in dangerous conditions, causing environmental damage, and causes many accidents involving death and injuries, the technique is criticised and banned in many countries.[11] Rat-hole mining is banned in India by National Green Tribunal.[2]

Notable incidents

2018 Meghalaya accident

This section is an excerpt from 2018 Meghalaya mining accident.[edit]

On 13 December 2018, 15 miners were trapped in a coal mine in Ksan in the Indian state of Meghalaya. After manually digging using a banned process known as rat-hole mining, the miners were trapped inside the mine at a depth of around 110 metres (370 feet) in Jaintia Hills district. The tunnel the miners were in flooded with water after they cut into an adjacent mine full of water from the nearby Lytein river. Five miners managed to escape and rescue efforts for the remaining ten continued until 2 March 2019.

Service personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force began operations shortly after the miners were trapped. After a request for assistance from the district administration, teams from Coal India, Kirloskar Brothers, the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy joined the operation to rescue the miners.

2021 incident near Rymbai

On 21 January 2021 six miners died in an incident in a mineshaft in an area of rat-hole mines in the East Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya.[12]

Uttarakhand rescue

In late 2023, rat-hole miners were instrumental in the rescue of 41 workers who were trapped for 17 days after the road tunnel in Uttarakhand that they were digging collapsed.[13][14][15]

2025 Assam incident

In January 2025, miners became trapped underground in an illegal rat-hole mine in the Dima Hasao district of Assam, which resulted in at least 9 confirmed deaths.[16][17]

References

  1. ↑ Operation Rat Mining : Dark Side Of Coal Mining In Meghalaya Exposed, India Today Investigation, January 14, 2019, retrieved 2023-12-03 – via Youtube
  2. 1 2 Kala, Rishi Ranjan (28 November 2023). "Rat hole mining: banned practice saves 41 lives from the collapsed Uttarakhand tunnel". BusinessLine. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  3. ↑ Sharma, Shweta. "What are 'rat-hole' miners? Controversial specialists brought in for final stretch of India tunnel rescue". Independent UK. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  4. ↑ Karmakar, Rahul (2023-11-29). "Understanding rat-hole mining". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  5. ↑ "Explained: From rat-hole mining to vertical drilling — methods used at Uttarkashi tunnel". Hindustan Times. 28 November 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  6. ↑ "Uttarkashi tunnel rescue: How the 12 'rat miners' reached the 41 trapped men". The Economic Times. 28 November 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  7. ↑ Karmakar, Rahul (29 November 2023). "Understanding rat-hole mining". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  8. ↑ "What is rat-hole mining, being done to rescue trapped Uttarkashi tunnel workers". The Indian Express. 27 November 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  9. ↑ "What is rat-hole mining and how it saved trapped Uttarakhand workers?". WION. 28 November 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  10. ↑ Kaushik, Riddhi (28 November 2023). "Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: What is rat-hole mining & how does it work?". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  11. ↑ "Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: How did 'banned' rat miners end ordeal of 41 workers". mint. 28 November 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  12. ↑ Hasnat, Karishma (2 February 2021). "Another year, another mining tragedy — why Meghalaya's 'rat holes' won't stop killing". Retrieved 3 December 2023. Two years after 15 miners were killed at an illegal coal mine in Meghalaya, six others lost their lives in another accident at another mine in January.
  13. ↑ "How India's 'rat-hole' miners freed 41 tunnel workers". bbc.com. 29 November 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  14. ↑ "'If 1 dies to save 40 people...': Rat-hole miner on Uttarkashi rescue operation". 29 November 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  15. ↑ Mishra, Ishita (29 November 2023). "On all fours in 'rat holes', the heroes of Silkyara scrape by on the margins". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  16. ↑ "At least nine miners are trapped in a coal mine in India's northeastern Assam state". AP News. 2025-01-07. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
  17. ↑ "Assam mine deaths: As more bodies turn up, a political war of words". The Indian Express. 2025-01-12. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
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