Avoid blame game on Assam floods, says Nagaland coal miners’ body

A Nagaland-based coal miners’ association said the devastation caused by floods and landslips in Assam and Nagaland should not become a cause for friction between the people of the two northeastern States.

The Tuli Area Coal Mining Contractors’ Association (TACMCA) urged people to refrain from making unverified claims and start examining several factors that could have contributed to the extensive damage to lives, homes, livelihoods, property, and public infrastructure.

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Tuli, in Nagaland’s Mokokchung district, is a town on the border with Assam. The coal belt on the border between the two States runs from Nagaland’s Wokha through Mokochung to Longleng, Mon, and further beyond in Arunachal Pradesh.

Disaster management officials in the two States said floods in Assam and landslips in Nagaland killed at least 115 people between April and August 14, 2026.

Many in Assam, including Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi, blamed the unprecedented floods in Sivasagar and Charaideo districts on unregulated and unscientific sand, stone, and coal mining along the inter-State border. He said excess water, accumulated in Nagaland’s coal pits, caused much of the damage in Assam.

Rejecting such theories, the TACMCA said that exceptionally heavy rainfall recorded in Nagaland on July 18 led to unusually high water flow and triggered flash floods, particularly in Longleng, Mokokchung, Mon, and Wokha districts.

The association said several interconnected factors can lead to extreme weather events, and the recent disaster should not be attributed to one activity or community. It claimed that Nagaland also suffered extensive damage from floods and landslips, although the focus was on Assam.

“Natural calamities do not recognise State boundaries or communities,” the association said, appealing to people in Assam and Nagaland not to point fingers at each other.

The TACMCA said accusations against an entire State, community, organisation, or group without established evidence could create divisions and cause further distress to people already affected by the disaster. It referred to the shared rivers, hills, forests, roads, markets, and social ties between Assam and Nagaland.

“We should help each other, understand each other, and stand together during adversities,” the association said.