Supreme Court to hear plea on rescue of Meghalaya miners tomorrow

Lawyer Aditya N Prasad said in his petition that the Centre and the state government must be asked to use the expertise of the Indian Army, Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force in the rescue operation.

The Supreme Court agreed on Wednesday to hear a petition seeking a direction to the Centre and state government for adequate manpower and equipment for rescuing the 15 miners trapped in a flooded illegal mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills.

Workers gathering around a crane after 15 miners were trapped by flooding in an illegal coal mine in Ksan village in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district. (AFP Photo)

A two-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, said it will hear the plea filed by lawyer Aditya N Prasad on Thursday. Prasad had said in his petition that the Centre and the state government must be asked to use the expertise of the Indian Army, Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force in the rescue operation.

He has also sought a direction by the to court to ask the government to requisition high-capacity pumps available in the country, including that of Kirloskar Brothers Ltd and airlift them to the remote site in Ksan village.

Prasad, said in his petition, Coal India should also be directed to provide “necessary technical know-how, equipment and guidance immediately at the rescue site”. He also said the government should be asked to prepare a standard operation procedure for rescue in mines and other similar conditions.

The fate of the miners, who are trapped inside a flooded coal mine in Ksan village, about 130 km from Meghalaya’s capital Shillong, for the last 20 days still remains unknown.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rescuers and Odisha firefighters on Tuesday began dewatering the coal mine in their bid to rescue the coal miners.

The dewatering of the coal mine resumed nine days after the district administration temporarily suspended the pumping out of the water last Saturday following the two 25 horsepower pumps, which were pressed into service became ineffective.