15 Meghalaya miners: A month since they went missing, rescue operations continue amid hopelessness

It’s been a month since 15 miners got stuck in the rat hole mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia district. The rescue operations continue, but amid the uncertainty of the chances of their survival.

Now there are additional high powered pumps, remotely operated vehicles (ROV) and other equipment to help, and yet there have been no success at all. The families of the miners have given up hope and wish that at least the bodies can be recovered.

A new pump was inserted by the Coal India Limited. The team has successfully tested the pipe and are now fitting and laying them down. Another pump is getting installed by the German company KSB. Numerous organisations and companies working together to end the crisis, but work has proven difficult again and again because of the depth. An electronic survey to access the rock strata around the mine has also been conducted.

Thousands of workers, including children, have been killed in this so-called rat-hole mining, which involves them crawling into narrow shafts on bamboo ladders to mine for low-quality coal.