GUWAHATI: The process of extraction of water through pumps facilitated by the East Jaintia Hills district administration was suspended on Monday morning with the “continuous” exercise rendered futile as the water level in the mine shaft, flooded up to 70 feet, “has not dipped an inch further”.
Operations to rescue at least 15 miners trapped in the flooded rat hole mine at Ksan by teams of the NDRF and SDRF have been on since December 14, the day after water gushed in.
“We followed the usual drill of checking the water level in the mine shaft but did not find any bodies floating. The water pumps which have been flushing out water continuously were stopped in the morning as the exercise has not been effective. They were withdrawn from the site later,” Santosh Kumar, assistant commandant of 1st Battalion NDRF, told The Shillong Times on Monday evening.
Apparently, there is anticipation among the teams at the site for the arrival of the high power submersible pumps from Coal India Ltd or other sources, as has been suggested to the East Jaintia Hills district administration by mining expert, Jaswant Singh Gill, who had inspected the site last Thursday.
“We will carry out the same drill tomorrow (Christmas day) as well. As of now, we are waiting for the submersible water pumps for the water extraction process to resume,” Kumar said.
A survey to ascertain the seepage points of the water, which has entered the mine from the river Lytein nearby, has been done by a team from the state government. “Both the deputy commissioner and superintendant of police, East Jaintia Hills, were at the site today as well,” he said.
Meghalaya disaster management minister, Kyrmen Shylla, however, could not be contacted for an update on the future course of action as he was in a meeting when this correspondent called him on Monday evening.
Govt not serious, says Congress
The Opposition Congress has criticised the state government for its “failure” to rescue the trapped miners. “If the government of Thailand can launch an operation involving international search and rescue teams (to rescue the 13 trapped footballers), this government is not serious at all in rescuing trapped miners,” Congress spokesperson H M Shangpliang said. Except for MLA of Rajabala constituency, Azad Aman, who visited the site eight days ago, none of the ministers and not even the disaster management minister visited the accident site, Shangpliang said.
Seven of the 15 trapped victims hail from two villages in Aman’s constituency in West Garo Hills district. The Congress leader also lambasted the state government for allegedly promoting illegal mining of coal in East Jaintia Hills district and elsewhere in the state.
“Since they (NPP, BJP, regional allies) could not fulfill the promise they made to voters about lifting the NGT ban on coal mining within six months of coming to power, they are promoting illegal mining, Shangpliang said.
