Miners rescue operation affected due to flooding of nearby

The multi-agency operations to rescue the remaining 14 coal miners trapped inside a 370-foot deep illegal coal mine in Meghalaya over four months ago was affected Wednesday after nearby Ltein river swelled rendering the rescuers unable to reach to the site, officials said.

The Navy had recently called off its rescue operation at tne coal mine. But, NDRF and some civil and police agencies of Meghalaya are still continuing with the search work at the rat hole mine where the tragedy had struck on December 13 last year.

The whole area is flooded after incessant rainfall had caused the nearby Ltein river to swell. It is not possible for the rescuers to reach the site, East Jaintia Hills deputy commissioner F M Dopth told PTI.

Rescuers had to cross the Lytein river three times in order to reach to the mines and the main shaft located at the side of a hillock where the miners were trapped and feared dead.

Nine of the 10 high pressure pumps belonging to the Coal India Ltd, the Kirloskar Brother Ltd and the KSB are engaged in discharging water out of the mines, he said.

Incessant rain in the area in the past few days had caused the Lytein river that criss cross the entire area to flood several of the low lying abandoned mines as well.

At least 16 miners were trapped in the ill-fated mine at Ksan area on the morning of December 13 last year when the mine flooded.

Of those trapped inside, the highly decomposed bodies of only two were retrieved by the Indian Navy and the NDRF earlier this year and handed over to their families.

The families of the 16 miners identified have been provided interim relief of Rs 3 lakh each and relatives of nine of the 14 victims have also given their consent in writing to the district administration to stop retrieving them but to increase compensation amount.

The State has incurred about Rs 2.5 crore expenses in the ongoing operations till March, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had told the Assembly.

The state government will be submitting the consent letters from the families to the Supreme Court and await directions from the Court in this regards, Revenue Minister Kyrmen Shylla said.