Efforts to drain out water on; no trace of trapped miners yet

Guwahati: Dewatering work continued on Wednesday at the illegal Meghalaya mine, with no trace yet of the 15 miners who are trapped in one of the flooded pits for almost three weeks now.

According to an official bulletin issued by the district administration, state-run Coal India was making preparations to install a 100-hp submersible pump that could discharge 500 gallons of water per minute. This is expected to significantly boost the dewatering work.

A multi-agency team comprising personnel from the Odisha Fire Service, National Disaster Response Force and the Indian Navy among others is working to find the trapped miners. The miners are trapped inside the coal mine at Ksan in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district since December 13, when water from a nearby river gushed in, puncturing the mine wall.