Rescue operations had stalled for over two weeks due to the lack of proper equipment and experts.
Over 18 days after several miners entered a rat hole mine at Ksan in Meghalaya's Eastern Jaintia Hills and were trapped after water gushed into the narrow tunnel, rescue efforts are hinging on prayers and hope.
Rescue operations had stalled for over two weeks due to the lack of proper equipment and experts. Chief Minister Conrad Sangma eventually asked the Centre for help. On Saturday, more than 18 days after the miners were suspected to have breached the wall of an abandoned mine, leading to the deluge inside the 12x12 sq ft tunnel, which is over 350 ft deep, two sets of rescuers — one of the Indian Navy divers and another comprising Odisha firemen — landed at the spot on Saturday, a day before proper rescue efforts finally mounted.
JS Gill, engineer-in-chief of Coal India Limited, told reporters that even on Sunday, after Navy divers went inside to explore possible lateral tunnels, hopes remained bleak. "If nothing is recovered by the divers, we'll pump out the water. Pumps have arrived, but the generators haven't. Once the generators arrive, it will take five days to pump out the water," said Gill.
The Meghalaya State Disaster Management Authority (MSDMA) has been ill-equipped to handle a tragedy of this magnitude even in the past. In 2009 and 2013, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) had helped, but even that wasn't able to help on this occasion.
Former NDMA vice-chairman M Shashidhar Reddy said mining-related disasters aren't a mandate of the NDMA, but the central government should have woken up to the crisis much earlier.
The disaster management wing of the ministry of home affairs, too, has been dragging its feet. One of the government bodies mandated to step in during such situations, it is yet to draft a situation report on the case.
Reddy said that it was "apparent" that the government reacted very late, and even then was lacking in coordination, logistics and resource management. "I hope that the government is documenting the incident to ascertain what went wrong, why the delay occurred. This would help in making protocols and laying down standard operating procedures for the future," added Reddy.
On Saturday, the Meghalaya government released a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for kin of the miners, while the number of miners trapped, previously expected to be around 13, is now expected to be as high as 20-22.
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