Risky bet: Mining fatalities decline, but safety remains elusive

In recent years, the number of fatalities has come down as the government has cracked down on illegal rat hole mining

As rescuers raced against time to save six workers trapped in a flooded rat hole mine in Assam, the tragic incident, as it unfolds, has once again trained the spotlight on mining related accidents in the country. 

Although the count of such incidents has come down over the years after government crackdown, foot hills of northeast and other mine rich states are still dotted with rat holes in which miners crawl and descend as much as 200 to 300 feet to extract coal.

But not every pickaxe strike at coal seam results in coal extraction. It sometimes leads to groundwater bursting,