The Centre Friday told the Supreme Court that they were facing difficulties in the operation to rescue 15 miners trapped in an illegal coal mine in Meghalaya since December 13 as there was no blueprint of the 355-feet well.


The government told the apex court that the illegal mine was located near a river and seepage of water was hindering the rescue operation. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, informed a bench of justices AK Sikri and S Abdul Nazeer about the steps taken for a swift rescue operation.


The bench directed the Centre and other authorities to file a status report on the steps taken and progress made in the rescue operation on January 7.


The apex court on Thursday had expressed dissatisfaction over the steps taken by the Meghalaya government to rescue 15 miners trapped in the illegal coal mine and had said "prompt, immediate and effective" operation was needed to rescue them as it was a matter of life and death. It had asked the Solicitor General to apprise it by Friday the steps which the government intends to take in the matter.


The rat-hole mine, atop a hillock fully covered with trees in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district, was flooded when water from the nearby Lytein river gushed into it, trapping 15 miners. Rat-hole mining involves digging of narrow tunnels, usually three-four feet high, for workers to enter and extract coal. The horizontal tunnels are often termed "rat holes" as each just about fits one person.


The Solicitor General had told the bench that several members of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were working at the site and instead of the Army, the government has sent Navy personnel there as the mine was submerged in water. "72 members of NDRF are already there but still no result," the bench had observed, adding, "Why cannot you take help of the Army? He (petitioner) says that water pumps were sent to Thailand. Why cannot it (pumps) be used here also?".  -- PTI