NDRF begins water removal at Assam's coal mine to rescue trapped workers

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Wednesday started removing water at the Dima Hasao coal mine to rescue 8 people who have been trapped since Monday.

Rescue operations are underway at the coal mining site, where HPS Kandari, Commandant of the 1st Battalion of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), said that two pumps are being used to drain water from the site. He confirmed that the process will continue overnight, allowing a manual search to begin once the water is removed.

Speaking to ANI, Kandari said, "The process has already started, they are using two pumps: one is already pumping the water and the other one is also getting started. This process will go on for the night. Once the water is removed... we can go inside and do the manual search."

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Special Director General of Police (DGP) Harmeet Singh said, "One body was found at the bottom of the shaft. On Tuesday, the water was very murky and the water was quite acidic. So nothing was visible. So today, four divers, NDRF and Army divers, had gone down. They were able to retrieve one body from the bottom of the shaft. Now we have arterial tunnels going on every side."

Singh further added, "The ROV (remotely operated vehicle) has done one round; the Navy ROV has done one round of the entire shaft. The ROV has both photography and sonar capabilities. That has not found anything. Now Navy divers are going down to the shaft. We will first clear out the shaft and then start entering the tunnels. In the meanwhile, efforts are on to continuously dewater the well."

Earlier, HPS Kandari, Commandant of the 1st Battalion of the NDRF, spoke about the difficulties faced by the joint rescue team. Kandari said, "Many attempts were made on Tuesday but we didn't succeed... A joint team dived today (in the mine) and we have recovered one body."

The mine collapse, which trapped several workers, has posed numerous challenges for rescue teams due to the hazardous conditions underground. Diving experts are now being called upon for specialised support.

Kandari highlighted the dangers and uncertainties of the operation, stating, "Diving in other places is another thing but in these situations, we need experts, as we cannot guesstimate what conditions would be there inside. There can be several types of mining equipment that can hinder the rescue process.