Two miners have been trapped in Khudia coal mines of Eastern Coalfields Limited ( ECL) under Nirsa police station following sudden inundation of mines during wee hours of Tuesday.
Those trapped have been identified as Basia Manjhi and Manoj Bouri -- both pump operators. While attempting to operate one submersible pump blasted and breached the barrier inundating the mines, according to one of the miners who managed to come out after the incident.
Nirsa circle officer M Mansoori said, incident has been reported between 3 and 4 am. The mines rescue team of the company is in place and a team of National Disaster Response Force ( NDRF) too has been summoned from Ranchi . However, the team from Ranchi had not reached the spot till 3pm.
This happens to be the second incident of inundation in this mine within a month's time. Last incident was reported on November 27 but there was no loss of life then . However then the Director General of Mines Safety ( DGMS) had directed the ECL management to close the mines but the management ignored the advice .
Nirsa MLA Aparna Sengupta who too reaches the incident spot alleges that ECL management has been ignoring the safety norms and that the incident took place.
Similar were views of former MLA Arup Chatterjee who allegeys that keeping mines operational despite DGMS directive is a major safety lapse on part of the company The DGMS must hold the management responsible for the loss of lives . Attempts to locate the body were on till late evening by the ECL rescue team.