SHILLONG, June 6: Hopes of finding any of the trapped miners alive are receding by the day as rescue operations in the remote coal mine in East Jaintia Hills where six miners are trapped for eight days remained largely handicapped for want of equipment and unfamiliar underground mine layout .
Continuing with their efforts on Sunday, the rescue teams of NDRF, SDRF and SRT verified that the level of the water had further receded by about ten feet from the previous day’s level. A senior official informed that dewatering continued till late in the day, barring a minor hiccup around midday when a pipe attached to the submersible pumps got dislodged and had to be reconnected. “At present four water pumps are being used while two more will be put to use from tomorrow,” an NDRF official said.
The district administration is trying to mobilise additional generators, water pumps, pipes, cables and other rescue equipment to be deployed at a second mine that is reportedly connected to the mine where the labourers are trapped. The administration is awaiting the survey report of the Directorate of Land Records on whether the two miners are connected. The survey team will begin work on Monday.
The district administration has recruited local manpower to jointly work with the rescue teams to dewater the second mine once the survey confirms the same.
Family in dilemma over visiting site
Meanwhile, the two families, who were permitted to visit the site at Umpleng, are unsure about the utility of such a visit.
Speaking with The Shillong Times on Sunday evening, Fakrul Islam, brother of one of the trapped miners Anowarul, said he was not aware that permission to visit the site had been accorded by the East Jaintia Hills DC.
“I am grateful that the DC has given us permission but who is going to take care of our security there. We fear that people involved with the mining business might cause us harm since we have filed complaints against the Sirdar, Nizamuddin Ali and other powerful people,” Fakrul said.
Muslim Uddin, brother of Abdul Sukkur, said that the permission was meaningless since his brother’s body was yet to be retrieved. “What are we going to do there? Besides, we don’t have money to book a vehicle and visit the mining site, and that too for a day only,” he said. Besides, he was also worried that the family might face problems since they had never visited Khliehriat in the past.
Earlier, the East Jaintia Hills district administration, after initial refusal, permitted the family members of the two workers from Barak Valley to enter on certain conditions.
Deputy Commissioner of the district, Ethelbert Kharmalki said that the family will have to adhere to the protocols and undergo mandatory COVID-19 test before entering the state. They would have to apply for special passes to enter the state and have to return the same day itself after visiting the site, he added.
It may be mentioned that in a letter addressed to Kharmalki, the family members of Anowarul Islam Barbhuiya, one of the six trapped miners, had urged the East Jaintia Hills district administration to permit them to visit the mining site.
