NDRF may go down Ksan mine after dewatering

KSAN/SHILLONG: The NDRF is ready to go down to the shaft to search for the bodies of the trapped miners at Ksan mine in East Jaintia Hills after completion of the dewatering process.
During a visit to the Ksan mine on Thursday, the only process found under way was dewatering of several shafts to reduce the water level at the affected mine as the rat-hole mines are inter-connected.
Five pumps are in operation to dewater the inter-connected shafts and four more are being installed. Currently, only the NDRF and SDRF are deployed for the operations after the Navy left the area recently. There are as many as 25 NDRF men at work.
“We do not have the ROV used by the Navy and our task to go down into the mine will begin once the dewatering process is completed,” said NDRF Inspector Mahendra Kumar Yadav, who has joined the operations 10 days ago.
The NDRF personnel can dive only 33 feet whereas the depth of the water in the mine is 170 feet. The mine has a depth of 350 feet.
The NDRF personnel admitted that the water level has remained unchanged in all the shafts despite continuous dewatering.
On Thursday, a few army personnel surveyed the site and offered assistance to the NDRF personnel to prepare platforms at the shafts to install pipes.
After the recent Supreme Court order, petitioner Aditya N Prasad, who has been pursuing the case aimed at its logical conclusion, will visit the area on Friday.
The court had asked Prasad to ascertain from the relatives of the deceased if they wish to have their bodies recovered since the bodies may be in a completely decomposed condition.
He will be accompanied by Hydrologist Dr Sudhir Kumar to assess the status of the dewatering process. The court had asked him to submit the report after visiting the site.