Indian Navy Resumes Retrieval Operation In Meghalaya Mine 24 Hours After Losing Sight

Indian Navy had abandoned all retrieval operations after it was unable to rescue the body of one of the 15 miners in the main shaft. On Sunday it was reported that the Navy had stopped all its operations.

However, on the advice of district administration the Indian Navy resumed retrieval on Tuesday. PTI reported that after day-long efforts, the rescuers with the help of their equipments were able to move the body only a few metres from where it was left on Sunday.

The corpse was brought to the bottom of the main shaft. Earlier efforts had led to the fear that pulling out the body might result in its disintegration. On Wednesday, Navy personnel were able to relocate the miner¡¯s body; almost 24 hours after it had slipped from Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV).

Photo: AP

Hindustan Times reported that the body had disengaged from the ROV after it was pulled from the rat hole to the main shaft on Tuesday. R Susngi, the spokesperson of the East Jaintia Hills district administration said, ¡°Due to the presence of pipes, cables, debris, their efforts to locate have not been successful.¡±

The officials were hoping that the body will float in the shaft however, it went straight to the bottom.

The body which was spotted on January 16 was very difficult to retrieve because it was in a highly decomposed state. To avoid disintegration, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had suspended operations on Monday.

Photo: AP

Despite constant efforts, the water level of the mine hasn¡¯t shown any decline which led the agencies to conclude that a miner would have accidentally ruptured the wall which led to water from nearby Lytein river gushing into the rat hole.

At least 15 miners got trapped inside 370 deep coal mine on December 13. "Rat hole" mines are common in Meghalaya as they are dug by locals but are very dangerous as the coal is pulled out from narrow, horizontal seams.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had banned rat-hole coal mining across Meghalaya in 2014 citing environmental reasons. Meanwhile, the Shillong Times reported in July last year that Chief Secretary PBO Warjri had informed that no rat-hole mining was taking place anywhere in Meghalaya and the practices now involved a bit of science.

In a petition filed by the All Dimasa Students¡¯ Union it was alleged that rat-hole mining in Jaintia Hills was polluting the Kopili River and turning its water acidic.