NEW DELHI: A visibly agitated Supreme Court on Thursday expressed its utter “dissatisfaction” over the rescue efforts following the mine mishap at Ksan in East Jaintia Hills and wanted the 15 miners trapped since December 13 be urgently recovered dead or alive.
Terming it a “serious issue,” a two-judge bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and S Abdul Nazeer also questioned why the Army was not roped in for the rescue operations. Adding that “every second counts for those trapped in the mine and that it is a question of life and death,” the court asked for prompt, immediate and effective steps.
It also asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to look into the matter urgently and apprise the court of steps taken on Friday itself. It also asked the government what steps it has taken to save the miners and why they are still unsuccessful.
“As the Union, you should do something now. Either you take the help of Army, which has not been done yet. They (Army) are ready and they have volunteered also,” the bench told Mehta, issuing notice to the Centre on a PIL seeking effective and best rescue measures.
Responding to the bench, the Meghalaya government said that it has taken all effective steps and multi-agency operation has been launched at the mine. The court, however, rapped the government calling the efforts “unsatisfactory,” and asked why it did not succeed so far.
“We are not satisfied (with steps taken for rescue). It is a question of life and death. What has happened in the last so many days we do not know. “No matter whether they (trapped persons) are all dead, some alive, few dead or all alive, they should have been taken out by now. We pray to God that they all are alive,” said Justice Sikri.
Addressing the concerns of the court on not requisitioning the Army to help in the rescue operations, Solicitor General Mehta said that 14 specialised Navy divers have been deployed for the rescue operations.
Telling the court that Navy sappers have been sent to help the rescue operations, the Solicitor General said that “Army will not work” in the handling of the tragedy.
Senior counsel Anand Grover appearing for the petitioner lawyer said that expert divers from the United Kingdom have offered to assist in the rescue operations but the government has not responded yet.
Recalling the way the Thailand government had responded in rescuing the members of its junior football team that was trapped in a cave, Grover said that the Thai government had airlifted the high pressure pumps of Kirloskars to flush out the waters, but our government has not shown the same promptness in airlifting the equipment even though that has been offered by the Kriloskars and the Tata Trust.
The plea filed by Advocate Aditya N Prasad urged the court to ask the central and state governments to utilise the services of the technical wings of the Army, Navy and Air Force to rescue the miners. (With agency inputs)
