PIL filed in SC to immediately rescue miners trapped in Meghalaya coal mine

A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed before the Supreme Court highlighting the plight of the fifteen miners trapped inside a coal mine in East Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya..The miners were trapped in a narrow coal mine in the Ksan area of Lumthari village on December 13, after water from the nearby Lytein river gushed into it. Rescue operations are reportedly ongoing, with experts opining that they may take at least another week to complete..The PIL seeks a direction to the Central Government and the Meghalaya Government to utilize the services of expert/technical arms of the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force to rescue the miners immediately..The petition preferred by advocate Aditya N Prasad also seeks the requisition and deployment of high capacity, self-priming, or any other pumps available in the country, including the Kirloskar Brothers Pumps which were offered to the Thai Government to rescue 12 boys and their football coach from a cave in July 2018..Filed by advocate Astha Sharma, the petition further seeks a direction to Coal India to provide necessary technical know-how, equipment and guidance at the rescue site..Additionally, formulation of a ‘standard operating procedure for rescue in mines‘ is also prayed for..The matter will be heard tomorrow.