SHILLONG: The matter pertaining to the Ksan mine tragedy in East Jaintia Hills district last year, is likely to come up for hearing soon in the Supreme Court as the court will open on Monday after its summer vacation.
A lawyer dealing with the case said an affidavit has been filed in the court to inform about the follow up action after the incident, including payment of compensation to the families of the victims.
The lawyer said he is yet to receive the copy of the affidavit which the Meghalaya government has already filed for the closure of the ongoing rescue operations at Ksan.
The Meghalaya government had filed the application for closure of the rescue operations after family members of the miners gave their consent to call off the search and rescue operations.
It was on December 13 last year that 16 miners were trapped inside a coal mine at Ksan after water from nearby Lytein river gushed in.
A multi-agency search and rescue operations was put in place, including dewatering of the coal mine where the miners were trapped.
In perhaps one of the biggest dewatering exercises ever, more than 100 crore litres of water has since been pumped out from the main shaft where the miners were trapped and the adjacent abandoned coal mines. The dewatering was necessary to pave way for divers to go deep down the main shaft in search of the miners.
However, except for the detection and recovery of two bodies with the help of the Indian Navy’s remotely-operated vehicle (ROV), nothing substantial has emerged as of now.
Meanwhile, with all hopes diminishing to locate and retrieve the bodies of the trapped miners, the cost of the rescue operations crossed over Rs 3.75 crore.
Incessant rain has added to the woes of the rescue workers stationed at the illegal coal mine at Ksan for over six and a half months.
Informing that the dewatering process has been suspended for weeks due to incessant rain, State Disaster Management Minister, Kyrmen Shylla said that according to the DC, the total cost till April was Rs 3.75 crore and expenditure for May and June is yet to be calculated.
Local youths’ contribution
Due to continuous downpour and overflowing of river, the NDRF, SDRF and the police battalion team posted at the operation site are cut off from the habitation and their only supply line for food are two local youths Meba Sukhlain from Lumthari village and John Suba from Lumchyrngan.
“There are two local lads, Meba and John who are carrying food for the rescue team by taking an alternate route which requires trekking for hours with loads on their back and conquering steep climb,” said Shylla.
He also informed that these two individuals have been helping the rescuers since the day the tragedy struck and are still continuing to do so.
Lauding their efforts and help, Shylla said, “We are lucky to have them as they have the physical fitness and knows the place, otherwise it would have been all the more difficult for us”.
To a query if the duo was paid, the minister said that they are being given a certain amount for their help but what matters the most is they are doing their job exceptionally well and are available whenever required.