After making an on-the-spot assessment at the mishap site in the Kuluda opencast mines of the Mahanadi Coalfield ltd (MCl) in Sundargarh district, BJP Rajya Sabha member Dharmendra Pradhan termed the accident as “manmade” and said the tragic loss of so many lives could have been avoided if mining safety norms had been adhered to.
Pradhan urged the administration to speed up rescue operation as locals claimed more than 25 persons, most of them women, are still under the debris. Though the company and the State Government sanctioned ex-gratia totaling Rs 5 lakh, he demanded the amount to be raised to Rs 25 lakh each.
Pradhan also demanded exemplary punishment for the officials found guilty after a through probe.He expressed a deep sense of anguish as neither top MCl officials nor the RDC, who has been named to head the inquiry, could reach the spot and talk to ill-fated families so far. “I’ll take up the matter in Parliament,” said Pradhan.