Assam Rat Hole Mine Tragedy: What is rat-hole mining? | UPSC Current Affairs 2025

Описание: Recently, a tragic incident occurred in Assam's Dima Hasao district, where several workers were trapped in a coal 'rat-hole' mine after it was flooded with water.

Rat-hole mining is a method of extracting coal from narrow, horizontal seams, prevalent in Northeast India.
The term "rat-hole" refers to the small, narrow pits dug into the ground, typically just large enough for one person to descend and extract coal using primitive tools like pickaxes, shovels, and baskets.
Unlike in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, coal seams in Northeast India are very thin. It makes rat-hole mining more economically viable than opencast mining.
However, this method of mining has faced severe criticism due to its hazardous working conditions, environmental damage, and numerous accidents leading to injuries and fatalities.
In fact, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned rat-hole mining in 2014, and retained the ban in 2015. But the practice continues.

#nextias #assam #minetragedy #rathole #ratholemining #nationalgreentribunal #northeast #assamesenews #assamnews #assamesenewstoday #news #newsupdate #newstoday #newsheadlines #headlines #headlinesoftheday #newslive #breakingnews #currentaffairs #currentevents #currentaffairstoday #explore #exploremore #explorepage