Rescue units continue to drain mine shaft

The Odisha Fire Service and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Tuesday continued dewater operations in a flooded mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district where 15 miners are trapped for 20 days.

An official bulletin said they were managed to reduce the water level in an old shaft next to the main pit where the miners are believed to be trapped. However, navy divers and NDRF personnel, who entered the main shaft at 4:30 pm, found that the water level in that had not changed.

The Odisha Fire Service will continue de-watering operations, the district administration said in its bulletin. Coal India has also sent high-power pumps to the site.


Meanwhile, PTI, citing officials, said the multi-agency operation was hindered after some pumps encountered technical snags.

The miners are trapped inside the 370-foot-deep illegal coal mine since December 13, after water from a nearby river gushed in, puncturing the mine wall.