Four months on, report on Dadam landslide awaited

Geetanjali Gayatri

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Chandigarh, April 25

Four months after five labourers lost their lives and three others sustained injuries in a landslide at the Dadam mines in Bhiwani, the report of a nine-member committee constituted by the Haryana Government to look into the reasons is still awaited.

Sources said the committee headed by former bureaucrat SS Prasad was awaiting the reports of the Directorate General of Mines Safety and the Geological Survey of India (GSI) to proceed with the inquiry into the landslide. Last week, a reminder was sent to the two agencies to submit their reports at the earliest. When contacted, Prasad said, “We are likely to receive the reports of other agencies involved in the investigation shortly. The interim report would be ready soon after.” Though Prasad along with the other panelists has visited the site of the landslide twice to assess the situation, little headway has been made in the probe for want of the reports of the agencies involved.

Mining and Geology Minister Mool Chand Sharma said the government would try and push for the early submission of the report of the two agencies. “The safety of those working at the mines is our priority and we want the report to come in at the earliest. We will see what can be done to speed up the process,” Sharma said.

While emphatically stating that the two deaths reported yesterday in Dadam mines were “accidents” and there were no complainants, he said the government was concerned about the landslide of January 1 and would take remedial steps once the report was received.

Sources said while the report of the GSI was awaited to ascertain if the landslide was the outcome of natural fault lines, it would be a challenge for the committee to establish if more than the prescribed quantity of explosives was used to cause blasts at the site.

Prashant Makkar of the GSI said he had sent the report today. Sources in the committee stated that they were yet to receive it.

Mining zone casualty

• The state set up a panel on Jan 17 to look into the reasons for the Jan 1 landslide that claimed five lives
• Panel is awaiting reports of the Directorate General of Mines Safety and the GSI