‘Dead or Alive, They Should be Brought Out’: SC on Trapped Miners

The Supreme Court said it was not satisfied with the way the rescue operations were going for the 15 trapped miners.

The miners have been trapped in a “rat-hole” mine in Meghalaya since 13 December 2018. The Supreme Court has termed the situation as very serious and said that for the trapped miners, every minute counts.

(Photo Courtesy: Meghalaya Police)

The Supreme Court, on Thursday, 3 January 2019, told the Meghalaya government that it was “not satisfied” with the way rescue operations were being carried out to pull out 15 miners trapped in an illegal flooded coal mine in Meghalaya.

‘Dead or alive, they should be taken out’, the court reportedly told the Meghalaya government.

The 15 miners have been trapped inside a 370-foot illegal coal mine in East Jaintia Hills district in Meghalaya since 13 December 2018, after water from a nearby river gushed in, puncturing the mine wall.

“For people trapped in the mine in Meghalaya, every minute counts.”

Supreme Court

The court said that a prompt, immediate and effective operation is required to rescue people trapped inside the illegal mine in Meghalaya. The court also called for the presence of a Union government counsel to look into the matter immediately.

This development comes after the state government submitted before the court that it is taking steps to rescue the trapped miners.

The state said that 72 NDRF personnel, 14 personnel from the Navy and Coal India have been working on the rescue mission since 14 December. Odisha firefighters are also a part of the mission.

The Supreme Court, in its response, asked the state why ‘such a big operation’ has not been successful yet.

The court has termed the situation of the trapped miners as ‘very serious’. It has appointed Solicitor General Tushar Meht to look into the matter urgently and apprise the court of steps taken by Friday, as it is a matter of life and death.

The court also brought up the instance of Thailand cave rescue, where members of a junior football team were also trapped in a cave. The court told Tushar Mehta, “You wanted to send pumps to Thailand. That's not happening here.”

So far, only three hard helmets have been pulled out of the pit. The rescue operations are still on.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI)