Dima Hasao, Jan 9: Rescue operations in Assam’s Dima Hasao district continued for the fourth day on Thursday as teams worked to locate miners trapped in an illegal rat-hole coal mine. The miners were caught when a sudden flood inundated the 3-Kilo Coal Quarry in Umrangso on Monday.
Around 15 workers were inside the mine when water breached one of the walls, flooding the shaft and tunnels. While some miners managed to escape, nine remain missing. On Wednesday, the body of one of the missing workers, Ganga Bahadur Srestho from Nepal, was recovered at a depth of 85 feet by Army divers.
The ongoing rescue efforts involve the Navy, Army, NDRF, SDRF, ONGC, Coal India, and local authorities. A Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) has been deployed to search the flooded shaft, but blackened water is making the operation difficult. Navy divers have also entered the mine in hopes of locating the trapped workers.
To assist in draining the flooded mine, Coal India has flown in a 500-gallon-per-minute heavy-duty pump from Maharashtra. The pump arrived in Silchar and will be airlifted to the site for assembly, complementing existing dewatering pumps. The mine, operating illegally using the hazardous rat-hole mining method, had been banned by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2014.
Rescue teams are hopeful that the new equipment will help locate the remaining miners.
