The Meghalaya Government informed the Supreme Court on Friday that the Indian Navy has deployed five remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs) in the operation to rescue 15 miners trapped inside an illegal coal mine in East Jaintia Hills district sinceDecember 13.
The State Government told a bench of Justices AK Sikri and S Abdul Nazeer that one crore litres of water had been pumped out from the illegal mine, but seepage from nearby rivers was creating hurdles in the rescue operation.
The Bench sought to know from the State’s counsel as to whether any action had been taken against those indulging in illegal mining activities.
The counsel told the court that the person running the illegal mine where the incident took place had been arrested.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the court that every possible step has been taken for the rescue of the trapped miners and the Indian Air Force has deployed planes and helicopters for airlifting requisite equipment and manpower.
The bench has posted the matter to January 18 for further hearing.The apex court is hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Aditya N Prasad, who sought urgent steps to rescue the 15 miners trapped in the illegal coal mine.
Earlier, the Centre had informed the top court that all appropriate steps were being taken to rescue the miners.