In a letter, Meghalaya govt appears to have sought NDRF's help to flush out 'dead bodies'
Even as the Indian Navy and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been engaged over the last couple weeks to rescue the 15 miners trapped in a 350-feet illegal coal mine in Meghalaya, the state government, it now appears, had reason to believe from Day 1 that the men were already dead.
In separate communications dated December 13, 2018 (when the incident was reported), the District Commissioner, East Jaintia Hills District, Khleiehriat Division wrote to Commandant, NDRF and Divisional Mining Officer to send help to flush out "dead bodies" of the 15 trapped persons.
Another letter, with similar content, read, "Due to overflowing of water, the dead bodies are still trapped inside (coal quarry at Ksan near Letein River) and could not be seen. Efforts are being made to recover the dead bodies by pumping the water with the help of generator and the work is in progress."
This letter came to be annexed with the first status report submitted by the Meghalaya government to the Supreme Court, which is monitoring the rescue mission. Till date, according to estimates prepared by the Meghalaya government, the rescue mission has cost the state a whopping Rs 1.46 crore in just 15 days. Presently, 72 NDRF personnel, 22 State DRF personnel, 16 Navy personnel, Orissa Fire Service officials, personnel from Coal India Limited are camped at the site which is situated in dense forests on a hillock.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed a bench of Justices AK Sikri and S Abdul Nazeer that the Navy has employed unmanned underwater remote vehicle. The status report said that the Navy divers have been able to penetrate only 90 feet and the volume of water in the submerged mine is estimated to be about 150 feet. However, they have not yet found any trace of the bodies in the muddy waters.
The task is challenging — even for the Navy — as 10 lakh litre of water has been flushed out so far, but the water level keep getting replenished due to seepage from the neighbouring river. The mining shaft where they are trapped is also dark and deep with water that's mixed with soil and chemicals. High power generators have been installed at the site the nearest high tension electricity line is five kms away.
The court had been pushing for the rescue mission to achieve results, as it observed, "Every second counts for the trapped miners."
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