Rescue operations for saving the fifteen miners trapped in a flooded rat hole coal mine since the 13th of December, in East Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya, are still underway. The State rescue team and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are continuously working to rescue the miners, but no progress has been made yet.
Considering the situation at the site, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs sought help from the Odisha Fire Service (OFS) and asked the OFS to send a team of experienced members for the rescue operations.
The OFS will reach Meghalaya, today, with high powered pumps to rescue the 15 trapped miners.
B.K. Sharma, the Director General of OFS and Commandant General of the Home Guards and Director Civil Defence, sent a team of 21 members, led by Sukanta Sethi, to the affected site. The team, with 20 high power pumps, reached the Shillong Airport, today morning, in a private air force craft.
B.K. Sharma said, “Each of the pumps can dewater 1,600 litres of water a minute and we hope the miners can be rescued. We are one of the few states that is experienced in handling such calamities. We could have gone much earlier, but the request from MHA came yesterday (Thursday).”
Shashi Tharoor, a Congress leader, also asked Kirloskar Pumps (KBL,) Kolkata, to join hands with the rescue teams and help in the rescue operations. After Mr. Tharoor’s request, a team from KBL arrived at the site, on Thursday evening. Apart from the KBL team, a Coal India team also reached Shillong, on Thursday. The Coal India team is expected to visit the site today.
The NDRF officials, yesterday, suspected the miners to be dead as the miners are trapped inside the rat hole coal mine since 15 days.
Stay tuned for further updates about the story.
