Indian miners trapped in illegal ‘rat-hole’ pit for more than three weeks

At least 15 workers stuck in flooded coal mine as rescuers place hopes on pumping water from pit

Indian Navy divers are lowered into the illegal coal pit in Meghalaya where 15 miners have been trapped for over three weeks as part of the rescue operation (AFP/Getty Images)

Indian rescuers trying to reach a group of miners trapped in a remote and illegal “rat-hole” coal mine are struggling to pump out water from the 113m-deep pit, more than three weeks after they became trapped.

The slow progress in the rescue efforts in the northeastern state of Meghalaya has been contrasted with the rescue of 12 Thai boys from a flooded cave last year, which drew a massive international audience.

The mine became flooded after at least 15 miners went down the narrow pit on 13 December.

Rat-hole mines killed thousands of workers in Meghalaya before India's environmental court banned the practice in early 2014.

Despite the ban, many mines continue operating and require workers, often children, to descend hundreds of feet on bamboo ladders and dig coal out of narrow seams.

“We are continuously engaged in our efforts but the terrain and conditions out here are extremely difficult,” Santosh Kumar Singh, an assistant commandant with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), told Reuters from the site.

Navy divers and NDRF personnel had not been able to reach the trapped miners, he said.

Rescuers are now placing their hopes on a huge pump from state miner Coal India Ltd that is being installed on a concrete platform near the mine.

On Friday, India's Supreme Court ordered the federal government and Meghalaya to file a report by Monday on the rescue operation.

Meghalaya told the court on Thursday that nearly 86 people had been working on the rescue effort.

At its peak, the state produced coal worth $4bn a year, or about a tenth of India's total production.

While the Thailand drama received extensive international media coverage, the trapped miners in Meghalaya are getting very little attention, even within India.

“Whole media, government and us, the common people, have completely ignored them,” one Twitter user, Rahul Sribastab, wrote. “The government, opposition and media have failed us.”

Reuters