Two miners die as another coal mine collapses in Meghalaya
India | January 07, 2019 8:42 ISTEarlier on Friday, the tribunal had imposed a fine of Rs 100 crore on the Meghalaya government for its failure to curb illegal mining in the state.
Earlier on Friday, the tribunal had imposed a fine of Rs 100 crore on the Meghalaya government for its failure to curb illegal mining in the state.
Twenty-five days on, the authorities have failed to find even a single trace of the trapped miners despite continuous efforts by the NDRF, Indian Navy and private organisations. Bu all is not lost.
The government told a bench comprising Justice A K Sikri and S Abdul Nazeer that the illegal mine was located near a river and seepage of water from the river was hindering the rescue operation.
The government told the apex court that the illegal mine was was located near a river and seepage of water was hindering the rescue operation.
A survivor of the accident had said on Saturday that there was no way the trapped miners would come out alive.
Rescue Operations spokesperson, Reginald Susngi, said that Odisha firefighters have drained out 7.20 lakh litres of water in six hours on Wednesday from an old shaft near the main one, where the miners are trapped.
Family members of at least seven trapped miners had already given up hope to rescue them alive and requested the government to retrieve the bodies for last rites.
The fate of the miners, who are trapped inside a flooded coalmine in Ksan village, about 130 from Meghalaya's capital Shillong, for the last 20 days still remains unknown.
On the 18th day of the operation, the Navy divers stayed inside the shaft for three hours with a hi-tech gadget, Under Water Remotely Operated Vehicle (UWROV), and found visibility to be very poor – only one foot, operation spokesperson R Susngi said.
According to Navy officials, the depth of water from the surface till the bottom of the pit was expected to be over 150 feet.
Sahib Ali, hailing from Assam's Chirang district, is one of the five men who narrowly escaped the flooding coal mine a fortnight ago.
The mine got flooded when water from the nearby Lytein river gushed into it on December 13, trapping the 15 diggers.
Superintendent of Police Sylvester Mongtynger said two teams from Kirloskar Brothers Ltd arrived on Thursday to help in rescuing the miners trapped in the 370-foot-deep illegal mine.
Rijiju also blamed the previous Congress government in Meghalaya for the "unsafe illegal minining activities" in the state.
Meghalaya govt has written to Coal India seeking their special pumps to aid the rescue of 15 miners in Lumthari area of East Jaintia Hills district.
The judge said he had written the judgement based on truth, history and ground reality "to save the citizens of India, irrespective of caste, creed, religion or language".
Rescue teams are using high-power pump to flush out water of the flooded mine, howhever, all efforts have failed to yield any positive result.
The accident inside the coal pit on Thursday was of significance, especially because the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had ordered an interim ban on "rat-hole" coal mining in the state from April 17, 2014.
Japanese culture and cuisine will be showcased in this year's Indian International Cherry Blossom Festival to be held in Shillong from November 14 to 17.
The Centre on October 4 announced a Rs 2.50 per litre cut in petrol and diesel prices after it reduced excise duty by Rs 1.50 a litre.
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