Govt seeks Navy’s help to rescue miners

Shillong, June 10: Eleven days after operations began to rescue six workers trapped at a coal mine in East Jaintia Hills, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Thursday said he has asked to the Ministry of Defence to provide Navy divers to augment the rescue operations.
The CM said that the government was exploring all options to rescue the trapped miners.
Asked whether the government was contemplating to call off the rescue operations since no breakthrough has been achieved since May 31, he said that there was no question of calling off the rescue operations since it is the responsibility of the government to save lives.
Pointing out that the rescue operation is a difficult task, Sangma said the rescue team along with the district administration was making all efforts but no positive result has been achieved so far. Meanwhile, a senior official informed that Fakrul Islam Barbhuiya, brother of one of the trapped miners – Anowarul Islam – along with three relatives visited the incident site on Thursday.
The family members returned back the same day, a senior official at the site said, adding that the family appreciated the efforts of the district administration and the rescue teams.
Continuing with the rescue operation, the NDRF and SDRF teams on Thursday verified the level of the water before commencing de-watering process and found that the water level in the main shaft has receded by 31 feet. Around 3.96 lakh liters of water have been pumped out from the main shaft and 4.86 lakh liters from the second shaft.
The rescuers are also working to install the Kirloskar water pump in the second shaft to speed up the dewatering process.