DIBRUGARH: The Patkai hills lost its glory due to unabated illegal coal mining in the Ledo-Margherita area of Assam’s Tinsukia district.
Ledo-Margherita nearly 571 kms from the capital Guwahati is naturally rich due to abundant coal found in the foothills of Patkai.
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Earlier, the place was home to Singpho, Sema Nagas, Tangsa, Tai-Phake, Syam, Aitom, Nocte and other communities who have been impacted due to the mining and deforestation in the Patkai hills.
They are the original inhabitants of Patkai hill region but they had to migrate to Arunachal Pradesh’s Tirap district due to mining.
Also read: Assam: Environmental group submits memorandum over forest destruction in Tinsukia
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“The illegal mining is destroying the ecology of the Patkai hills. It has a disastrous impact on the environment of the region. Due to unabated illegal mining, the entire area’s flora and fauna have been lost. Last ten years ago the Patkai hills has been green but nowadays it has lost its greenery.
“Earlier, when we passed through the Margherita-Ledo area we found the green vegetation on the foothills of Patkai hills but now it has lost all its glory,” said Rajiv Dutta, a local journalist, who has been working for environment protection for the last two decades.
Collieries in Ledo-Margherita began to be set up in 1885 and were placed under the administrative control of the Assam Railways and Trading Company.
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.
Recently, opposition Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) alleged that the north-eastern state is losing nearly Rs 2,000 crore revenue every month due to rampant illegal rat-hole coal mining in several places, particularly in upper Assam’s Tinsukia district.
The party sent a memorandum to the President, Prime Minister, Supreme Court Chief Justice, Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, NHRC Chairman and National Green Tribunal Chairman highlighting the issue.
Devojit Moran, an environmentalist said, “Around 1000 rat-hole mining are functioning in the Ledo-Margherita region of the Patkai hills.
“The coal mafias are illegally extracting the coal through rat-hole mining. Illegal rat-hole mining has been causing extensive damage to the entire biodiversity of the region,” he said.
“Many bird species found near the Saleki reserve forest are not seen in that area due to deforestation and illegal mining,” Moran added.