NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Meghalaya government and the Centre to file an action taken and status report on steps taken to rescue the 15 miners trapped in a rat-hole coal mine at Ksan in East Jaintia Hills district by Monday.
The miners were trapped when water from the Lytein river nearby is said to have gushed into the mine on December 13. Rescue work began the next day when personnel of the National Disaster Response Force arrived.
In Friday’s hearing, the apex court observed that the state seems to be making serious efforts though it failed in the beginning when the miners were first trapped.
The case will come up for hearing on Monday.
Senior Advocate Anand Grover, appearing for the petitioner, Aditya N Prasad, quoted The Shillong Times report in the apex court which said that the high-power submersible pumps from Coal India Ltd are not working. Heavy duty pumps are at one spot, but these need to be in different spots and what should have been done is not being done, he added.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that the mine is illegal and in the absence of blueprint of the mine the operation is complex. Mehta further added that even specialised divers from Indian Navy have been unable to reach the miners.
“Illegal mine located near the river and water seepage is hindering the rescue operation,” Mehta said.
To this, the court said that action should be taken against the mine owners and workers should not be allowed to suffer.
“We pray that all people trapped in mines are alive. They should have been rescued by now. We are not satisfied with the action taken by the state government,” the court said. The apex court also said, the state and the Centre shall also address the issues raised in January 1 letter from the office of Deputy Commissioner.
The court observed that the Centre and state say all possible steps are taken. They say it’s an illegal mine and there is no blue print of the mine.
At the same time they also say that all possible steps are taken to drain out water from the. The court said that joint effort of all of us is that if they are still inside they should come out.
“We can’t do everything. What we can see is whether there are genuine efforts
being made to rescue,” it observed in desperation.
The Bench also stated that the status report must also address the issues raised by the petitioner regarding steps that were not taken by the authorities.
Mehta and state counsels informed the court that a meeting was held which was attended by the joint secretaries of coal, home and defence, among others. There is complete coordination among all the agencies working in the rescue operation, the court was told.
The counsels also told the court that unlike in the case of Thai caves, the water in these mines is murky which makes it difficult for divers to navigate. The case in Thailand was of persons trapped in a cave which had air pockets.
Owing to this, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) divers are unable to go beyond a point which led to divers from the Navy being called for the operation.
On the question of Kirloskar pumps that was raised yesterday, Mehta told the court that despite attempts made to suck the water out of the mine, the water level is not receding due to simultaneous seepage from the river.
Grover pointed out to the court that several steps and deployment made by the authorities were delayed in response. Grover also submitted reports published in The Shillong Times that stated that while pumps and generators are brought in at the site, several of them are not functioning, but Mehta responded to this by pointing out technical difficulties.
At this point, Justice Sikri observed that this is not adversarial litigation and the Centre is replying to the issues raised by the petitioner. “This is not adversarial. They are replying to what you (petitioner) are saying. The joint effort of all of us is that if these persons are alive they should be brought out”, Justice Sikri said.
SUPREME COURT BENCH
Joint effort of all of us is to see that if they (miners)
are alive, they must be taken out from there
CENTRE
No blueprint of the mine which has a “maze of rat holes”
Mine located near a river and seepage of water from it is hindering the rescue operation; suction of water not giving desired result due to seepage
Authorities unable to locate the seepage in the mine
Water is muddy there (in the mine). Divers of NDRF cannot go beyond a particular depth so specialised divers of the Navy were called
PETITIONER’S LAWYER
Authorities had not taken appropriate steps at the outset
High-power water pumps not working there and only one generator being used at the spot
Send independent commissioner at the spot to see the ground reality and verify claims of the authorities
Authorities can take assistance of the Indian Space Research Organisation as they can provide satellite thermal imagery of inside the mine