Meghalaya: Navy detects one body of trapped miner; operation continues

The Indian navy in Meghalaya detected a body of a trapped miner from a rat-hole illegal coal mine in east Jaintia hills district after 34 days of the incident, ANI reported on Thursday.

The body was detected at depth of more than 200 feet. The search operation for the rest of the miners is still underway.

Fifteen miners on December 13, got trapped in an illegal mine in Meghalaya at a depth of around 370 feet in Jaintia hills district.

Service personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force began operations shortly after the miners were trapped. After a request for assistance from the district administration, teams from Coal India, Kirloskar Brothers, the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy joined the operation to rescue the miners.

Experts have been visiting the spot since December 20 as efforts intensified to rescue the trapped miners, but the huge water level inside foiled all their efforts.

According to a report, so far the dewatering of the 370-foot-deep mine has proved futile as over 1 crore litres of water has been pumped out of the main shaft in the past one month, but there has been no visible change in the water level

Another 2 crore plus litres of water was pumped out from the nearby abandoned mines suspected to be connected to the mine where the miners are trapped, but the rescuers are clueless 'how' and 'where' the water is coming from.

The Supreme Court which is monitoring the rescue efforts has directed the authorities to step up their efforts and bring out the miners 'dead or alive'. 

Meanwhile, the state government has offered an interim relief of Rs 1 lakh to the family members of the trapped miners.

(With inputs from agencies)