Another body was pulled out from under the rubble at a mining site in Dadam here, taking the death toll in a landslide accident to five. Four bodies were recovered after the incident on Saturday. Two people were injured.
Meanwhile, officials said rescue operations would continue for the time being to clear the debris and rule out any other person being trapped there.
SHO of Tosham police station Sukhbir said on the phone, ‘Late Sunday evening, the body of a laborer was pulled out from under the rubble. The age of the victim was around 50 years and she was a resident of a village near Rohtak.
According to the district administration, they have recovered the records of seven workers trapped under the debris. “All the seven, whose records were provided by the contractor, have been accounted for. While five have lost their lives, two are in hospital and are undergoing treatment for their injuries”, said Manish Phogat, sub-divisional magistrate.
“The rescue operation will continue till tomorrow afternoon, as there is a possibility of any helper or any other person trapped inside, whose record was not available in the register of workers maintained at such mining sites,” Phogat said. The rescue operation is likely to continue till Monday afternoon.
He said it takes time to move large stones, there was fog in the morning, but it cleared during the day.
Meanwhile, talking to reporters in Bhiwani after visiting the accident site, BJP Bhiwani-Mahendragarh MP, Dharambir Singh alleged violation of several prescribed norms for mining at at least four sites in the Dadam area. He said that he would request Chief Minister ML Khattar to order a thorough probe into the landslide and its causes so that such incidents do not recur.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Panchkula, Chief Minister ML Khattar, however, said that he has already directed the mining department to ascertain whether the norms prescribed for mining at the site were violated. “If any violation is found, action will be taken,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bhiwani Deputy Commissioner Ripudaman Singh said that the rescue operation at the spot is still on and it is being led by the NDRF.
After the incident that took place at around 9 am on Saturday morning, the police had told that about half a dozen dumper trucks and some machines were buried under the debris.
Regarding the rescue operations, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij had earlier said that several rescue teams, including the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and the Army, were pressed into service.
Meanwhile, state Congress president Kumari Selja demanded a judicial inquiry, supervised by a sitting Supreme Court judge, is needed “to expose the mining scam”.
In a statement, former Union Minister Shailaja alleged that illegal mining is going on in Dadam and deep excavation is going on at the site without permission. He said that the Congress party demands financial assistance of Rs.25 lakh each for the next of kin of those killed in the incident and Rs.10 lakh each for the injured.
Holding the BJP-JJP government responsible for the entire tragedy, former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda on Saturday alleged that a “scam of thousands of crores” had taken place in the Dadam mining area. He said, ‘The Supreme Court has also made a serious comment on this matter and illegal mining is being done in this area by flouting all the rules but the government is not conducting a fair investigation. The opposition is demanding that there should be a judicial inquiry into the entire scam.
Senior Congress leader and MLA from Tosham Kiran Choudhary has demanded an independent inquiry alleging illegal mining in the area. Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala had also alleged that illegal mining was going on under the Khattar regime and asked the BJP government who was responsible for these deaths.
(with PTI inputs)
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