As the 12-day rescue operation in Uttarakhand, India, nears its conclusion and hundreds of people are sent in to help free 41 workers trapped in an under-construction tunnel, RT spoke with those who were rescued and those who had a similar experience over thirty years ago when they were trapped in a coal mine.
At Mahabir Colliery in Raniganj, in the state of West Bengal in eastern India, a series of unintentional blasts on November 13, 1989, caused significant flooding. As a result, 71 workers were trapped in a mine that was 100 metres deep. Six miners perished in the water, but three days later, 65 more were saved when engineer Jaswant Singh Gill proposed extracting each worker individually using a steel capsule.
Strangely enough, earlier this year saw the release of a movie depicting this rescue, in which prominent actor Akshay Kumar played Gill’s role.
Some of the miners who survived the 1989 incident told RT that they were waiting to see daylight again decades later, as the entire nation watched with bated breath the rescue of 41 men from the Uttarkashi tunnel, where they had been trapped due to a landslip, on November 12.
A survivor named Bala Kahar remembers that after water began pouring into the mine, they were saved by “lifts.” But Kahar thinks there was “no point in being afraid” despite the threat.
“After the ordeal, I was just relieved to be back home,” he said to RT. Another survivor, Jagdish Kahar, says that while he had his reservations at first, they gradually subsided after the authorities made touch with the trapped miners. He remembers, “Once we heard from the outside world again, our spirits rose.”
“They should keep their spirits high,” he remarked in response to a question about what advice he has for the people who are presently stuck in the Uttarakhand tunnel. With optimism, he said, “They are sure to be rescued as authorities have been able to contact them and food and other amenities are being delivered.”
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The day following their entrapment, communication with the workers was established as part of the ongoing effort. Before relief organisations could subsequently install larger pipes to give them freshly cooked Indian food, they were initially supplied with food and medicine via water pipelines.
Sanjay Bansal, the director of Mining Associates, a business engaged in both missions, was also contacted by RT. Bansal pointed out that the rescue effort in Uttarakhand presents a distinct set of challenges because the men are confined to a tunnel approximately 250 metres deep, while the Mahabir Colliery miners were trapped approximately 100 metres deep within a mine. He did, however, reiterate that the guys who were trapped will be freed since hundreds of people, including members of his team, were at the location organising the last stage of the rescue.
Rescuers and the stranded workers may be only a few metres apart, according to reports in the media on Thursday. A representative of the National Disaster Management Authority, Lt General Syed Ata Hasnain, stated, “We hope to get success in this operation in the next few hours, or by tomorrow.” But he also issued a warning, saying that giving these activities a “timeline” would put undue strain on the workers. Arnold Dix, a tunnelling specialist who is participating in the project after flying in from Australia, told the news agency ANI that all of the soldiers are safe and that he is confident they will return home without incident.
