Filling in the blanks in a reporter’s despatch

The evening of December 29 last year saw one of the biggest open-cast mining disasters in recent times, at Rajmahal, in Jharkhand’s Godda district. A huge dump of extracted earth subsided by 35 metres, bringing down about 9.5 million cubic metres of mud and sand on the those working at the site.

A number of questions were raised, the most immediate one being: How could no one be aware of the imminent danger posed by such a massive dump, one that resembled a small hill?

At the end of the first day of rescue operations, 11 bodies were recovered; five more were found the next day. Many were migrants from the neighbouring Madhya Pradesh. The name of one missing person kept cropping up — that of Lalu Khan, the shift in-charge of mining operations at the time of the disaster.

On the evening of December 31, with my copy due, a tiring search for Internet connectivity led me to a remote cybercafe run by a local journalist. The neighbouring shops were telecasting the Prime Minister’s address on demonetisation, watched by locals.

While I was making enquiries on Lalu Khan, a middle-aged man from a nearby shop overheard me and came forward with information. He said Lalu Khan, who hailed from Madhya Pradesh, was a well-respected labour contractor who arranged for mining work.

The local, identifying himself as a technician at the hazardous mine, said many, including Lalu Khan, had been repeatedly warning the authorities about the danger posed by the dump. “It was a tragedy waiting to take place,” he said.

I asked him whether he had documents to substantiate what he had just said, and he promised to meet me the next day. Keeping his word, he provided me with copies of a complaint — relating to violation of safety norms — made by a local activist to the Prime Minister’s Office in December 2015. He also gave me copies on the response from the Directorate of Mines Safety dismissing the allegations as incorrect and false. They proved beyond doubt that it was indeed a tragedy waiting to happen.

By January 3, 2017, the day on which my story appeared in print, 18 bodies had been recovered. As per the list provided by a local contractor, there were at least 23 people working at the time of the disaster.

The district administration soon stopped the rescue work, fearing that it could lead to further subsidence and endanger the lives of those involved. Among the five still buried at the site is Lalu Khan.