‘Not satisfied’ with rescue ops, top court seeks govt response
NEW DELHI: Dissatisfied with the steps taken by the Meghalaya government to rescue 15 miners trapped in an illegal coal mine since December 13, the Supreme Court on Thursday sought details from the Centre on what steps it has initiated to expedite the rescue operations.
“Every minute counts for those trapped there for almost three weeks. A prompt, immediate and effective operation is needed to rescue them,” a bench led by Justice AK Sikri told solicitor general Tushar Mehta who was summoned to the court after a fresh public interest litigation (PIL) came up for hearing. Mehta has to respond by Friday.
Mehta said Union minister for coal, Piyush Goyal, was personally monitoring the situation and a meeting was called on Wednesday, which was attended by the Meghalaya chief minister.
He added that a nodal officer was appointed and assistance from the Navy would also be requisitioned. Additional advocate general of Meghalaya, Amit Kumar , said all necessary action has been taken. “We are not satisfied (with steps taken for rescue). It is a question of life and death. What has happened in the last so many days we do not know. No matter whether they [trapped persons] are all dead, some alive, few dead or all alive, they should have been taken out by now. We pray to God that they all are alive,” the bench said.
Unconvinced, the bench asked Mehta and Kumar as to why assistance from the Army was not taken. “We read in the papers that the Army had volunteered to help. However, it was not accepted. As the Union, you should do something now...,” Justice Sikri said.
Mehta said the mine was located near a river, because of which water gushes in, making rescue operations difficult. He said National Disaster Response Force personnel were deployed. Justice Sikri, however, said: “The 72 personnel have not been able to do much. Why can’t you use water pumps that were sent to Thailand? Why can’t the same be used here”. The judge was referring to the rescue of 12 footballers from a flooded cave in Thailand in July last year. The rat-hole mine, atop a hillock in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district, was flooded when water from the nearby the Lytein river gushed into it, trapping the 15 miners.
KIRLOSKAR, COAL INDIA PUMPS REACH SITE
Following the SC intervention in the steps taken to rescue the 15 trapped miners, efforts to reach the miners seem to have been expedited. The Odisha fire service installed a pump in a separate shaft to the one holding the trapped miners as these shafts are believed to be connected. A team from Kirloskar Brothers also made ready its submersible pump, which was to be inserted into the main shaft. Officials from Coal India were also working to repair their submersible pump.