Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse: Revisiting The 2018 Meghalaya Coal Mine Tragedy
It has been 14 days since a multi-agency rescue operation was launched to evacuate 41 construction workers who got trapped inside the?Silkyara tunnel?in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand.
This is one of the largest and most challenging rescue missions ever undertaken in India.
With the rescue operation running into hurdle after hurdle, it is yet unclear when the 41 trapped men will be brought out safely.
But the positive news is that all the trapped men are alive and doing well despite the trauma they had to endure.
The massive operation is also a reminder of a similar but unsuccessful effort a few years ago.
2018 Meghalaya coal mine accident
On December 13, 2018, a total of 15 miners who were involved in illegal coal mining in East Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya got trapped inside after a breach caused water from the nearby Lytein River to enter the underground mine.
The miners were trapped at a depth of around 370 feet inside the illegal 'rat hole' mine when it got flooded.
A rescue operation was launched by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force on the same day.
How the search was nearly impossible?
However, the remoteness of the area and the fact that the mine was still flooded made it impossible for them to make any progress.
Rain and water that continued gushing into the mine through the breach made pumping it out unviable.
Expert divers who went inside the mine in search of the trapped men could only dive up to a depth of 40 feet.
Only after nearly ten days were more sophisticated equipment and high-power pumps brought in for the search operation.
When SC hoped for a miracle?
They, too, did not make any considerable progress in locating the trapped men, and at one point, the Supreme Court had to order the continuation of the search operation, saying, "Miracles do happen".
"Carry on with your rescue efforts; what if all or at least some are still alive? Miracles do happen," Justice AK Sikri had said on January 19, nearly a month after they went missing.
What happened to the 15 men
But there were no miracles, and on January 17, 33 days after the men went missing, a team of the Indian Navy spotted the body of one of them at a depth of 210 feet.
The next day, one more body was spotted at a depth of 280 feet. And those were the only two bodies that were ever recovered from the mishap site.
The Indian Army and Navy officially called off the operations on 2 March 2019, bringing an end to the longest such mission in the country's history.
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