Meghalaya miners' rescue case: State government, Centre not abandoning rescue operation

A day after the Navy announced its suspension of operation from Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district, the state government on Monday told the Supreme Court that they were not abandoning the rescue operation.

News agency ANI reported that the Meghalaya government has informed the Supreme Court that the state and the centre were not suspending the rescue operation.

The government has also filed a status report to the apex court.

The Navy on Sunday "suspended" its operation to retrieve the body of one of the 15 miners trapped inside an illegal 370-ft flooded coal mine in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district.

"The Navy today suspended the pulling of the remains, which they had been trying since yesterday evening, as too much disintegration (of the body) took place with every pull by the ROV jaw," operation spokesperson R Susngi had said.

The Navy divers had spotted the decomposed body of a trapped miner on Wednesday, using an unmanned, remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) at a depth of around 160 feet inside the mine's main shaft.

At least 15 miners are trapped inside the mine since December 13 last year after one of them accidentally punctured the wall of the mine, leading to its flooding.

A multi-agency operation, which included de-watering of the main shaft where the miners are trapped, and of the nearby mines, has failed to yield any result as the water level has not gone down.

In the last 46 hours, the Coal India had pumped out over 52 lakh litres of water from the nearby abandoned mines, but it was not enough to bring down the water level that was causing hindrances in the rescue work, Susngi said.

The Kirloskar Brothers Limited, which has also joined the rescue efforts, had managed to pump out over 45 lakh litres of water, he said, adding that the Odisha Fire Services had pumped out approximately 4.5 lakh litres.

The apex court had earlier expressed dissatisfaction with the rescue efforts to trace the miners and rapped the Meghalaya government for not seeking the Army's help.

(With inputs from agencies)