Digboi: The Tinsukia District Committee of the International Human Rights Council (IHRC) has alleged illegal coal extraction and transportation in Assam’s Margherita coal belt in the first phase of its investigation report.
In a press statement issued on Friday, the organisation alleged that coal is being illegally extracted from abandoned Coal India mines in the Ledo-Itakhola area using heavy excavators and prohibited rat-hole mining methods.
It claimed the coal is transported daily in dumpers, pickup vehicles and other commercial vehicles.
According to the committee, the alleged transportation network covers several coal-bearing areas, including Deep Mine, Molung Pahar, Kalasuri, Lalsuri, Tamol Bagan and Conference Field.
The report alleged that the coal is transported through an organised “entry system” despite concerns over illegal mining activities in the region.
The committee further alleged that the network is operated through an “entry syndicate” led by a person identified as “Ganesh”. It also claimed that a roadside dhaba at Itakhola is used to collect entry charges from vehicles transporting the alleged illegally mined coal.
The organisation also alleged that a coal mafia, with the support of a Coal India official, has been operating the illegal trade for several years. It claimed that coal extracted through the network is supplied to at least five brick kilns in the area.
The allegations come weeks after wildlife activists claimed on social media that nearly 50 heavy earthmoving machines, including excavators, JCBs and Poclains, entered the adjoining Tinkopani Reserve Forest under the Jagun Forest Range of the Digboi Forest Division.
According to those claims, the machines entered the forest from a point opposite the Forest Battalion camp to create routes for coal transportation, resulting in the felling of several trees. The operation was reportedly stopped and the machinery withdrawn after the intervention of the district administration and forest authorities.
The IHRC report also named several individuals whom it alleged were involved in illegal open-cast mining and rat-hole mining. However, these allegations have not been independently verified, and no government agency or law enforcement authority has officially confirmed them.
The committee said its investigation is continuing and that it has withheld details such as the identity of the alleged dhaba, the names of people allegedly collecting entry money, the amounts collected and the names of the brick kilns.
It said these details, along with documentary evidence, would be released in later phases of the investigation.
The organisation urged the Tinsukia district administration, North Eastern Coalfields (NEC), the Forest Department, Assam Police and the Railway authorities to conduct a joint investigation into the allegations.
It also said it would launch protest programmes if no action is taken. The organisation further said it is preparing a dossier for submission to the President of India and the Prime Minister, seeking intervention into the alleged illegal coal mining and transportation network in the Margherita coal belt.
No response from the district administration, North Eastern Coalfields, the Forest Department, Assam Police or the Railway authorities was available till the filing of this report.
The allegations remain unverified and are subject to investigation by the competent authorities.