SHILLONG: The state government will not call off the rescue operations for the trapped miners at Ksan, East Jaintia Hills, in line with the Supreme Court order.
Home Minister James Sangma told reporters on Wednesday after a cabinet meeting that since the Supreme Court wanted the task to continue, the government will have to abide by it.
Earlier, the body of a miner was retrieved while another which was spotted by the Navy is yet to be taken out. Fifteen miners were trapped in a rat-hole coal mine when water filled it on December 13.
Sangma said there was no fresh update on the efforts of the Navy to recover the body of the second miner.
The Army has already stepped in to assist the Navy in the rescue operations. It has pitched several tents and put a ‘cook house’ with ration in place. Besides, there’s a 10 KVA generator and a 2000-litre water bowser in the camp. The infrastructure is expected to save the Navy personnel, who have moved into the camp, three-four hours of transit time.
Expenditure not assessed
The state government is yet to assess the expenditure incurred for the rescue operations.
The home minister said it was a big task to gather men and machinery from various agencies to carry out the rescue operations.
“The government is yet to assess the expenditure aspect related to the operations and I don’t want to speculate”, said the home minister to a query whether the government has already spent crores of rupees.
Release plea
Meanwhile, sources said the Odisha Fire Service, which is engaged in the rescue operations, has requested the state government to release its personnel.
“We are not working for the past few days,” a source in the organisation, which is reputed for its expertise in rescue operations and has worked in disaster-struck zones in several parts of the country, said.
The team from Odisha, which was airlifted by the IAF from Bhubaneswar along with water pumps on the request of Ministry of Home Affairs, has been primarily engaged in de-watering the mines-the ill-fated one and then a couple of others in its vicinity.
Pumping of water from the four adjacent mines is now being done by Coal India Limited, Kirloskar Brothers and KSB Pumps.
“I suppose someone has to take a call on whether we continue to stay here doing little or pack up and go,” the source said. Ever since it stopped de-watering work, the Odisha Fire Service’s personnel have been “just lending a hand to the others.”
