New Delhi: The ultimate phases of the rescue mission to liberate 41 staff ensnared within the Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarakhand are underway, and the extraction of laborers is imminent. Over the previous 17 days, the NDRF, in collaboration with the Indian military and different related authorities, has been tirelessly working across the clock to evacuate the employees trapped following the collapse of a bit of the under-construction tunnel in Uttarkashi.
The rescue mission commenced by using a delicate chopping machine, which later transitioned to using an American auger machine to penetrate the collapsed part of the tunnel. Nonetheless, each methods proved unsuccessful because the auger machine malfunctioned, getting lodged within the tunnel and complicating the rescue efforts additional.
The rescue workforce then shifted to a vertical drilling method and the rat mining technique was additionally launched to degree up the rescue operation.
What’s the rat gap mining method?
Rat-hole mining is a contentious and unsafe extraction technique involving the elimination of coal by means of small pits, every no wider than four toes. As soon as the miners attain the coal seam, lateral tunnels are created to extract the coal. The extracted coal is initially deposited close by and later transported.
In rat-hole mining, handbook instruments corresponding to chisels and hammers are utilized by staff to excavate and take away particles. This technique is prevalent in Meghalaya, notably the place the coal layer is skinny. Because of the compact dimension of the tunnels, even minors, together with youngsters and kids, are engaged within the course of, with some pretending to be adults to safe employment in such mines. A number of incidents in Meghalaya have led to fatalities amongst rat-hole miners. On December 13, 2018, 15 staff engaged in ‘rat gap mining’ misplaced their lives as a result of waterlogging in a coal mine in Kasan.
Why was the ban imposed?
The Nationwide Inexperienced Tribunal (NGT) imposed a ban on this type of mining in 2014, sustaining the ban in 2015 as properly, particularly in relation to Meghalaya. Subsequently, the state authorities appealed in opposition to this order within the Supreme Courtroom. Regardless of the ban, reviews recommend that this apply persists on a major scale in states past Meghalaya.
Concerning the Silkyara Tunnel incident, the people current on the web site, in keeping with Neeraj Khairwal, the nodal officer appointed by the Uttarakhand authorities for rescue operations, usually are not ‘rat gap’ miners however fairly specialists on this mining method.
