9 trapped Meghalaya miners' families agree to stop search operations
The search operation continued for 130 days before stopping on Sunday
Shillong, Apr 21: Families of nine of the 16 miners trapped inside an illegal rat-hole coal mine in Meghalaya since December, have given consent to the district administration to stop the ongoing search operations which entered its 130th day on Sunday, officials said.
The bodies of only two victims one from nearby Lumthari village and another from Assam, have been retrieved from the mine in East Jaintia Hills district early this year.
"We have received letters of consent from the families to stop the ongoing search operations. The letters, submitted by families to the district administration, have been sent to the state government and the same will be submitted to the Supreme Court for granting necessary approval," a senior official told PTI.
Those who have written to the administration include families of two miners hailing from Lumthari village in East Jaintia Hills and the rest from Assam, the official said.
The miners were trapped after water from the nearby Lytein river gushed into the 370-feet deep mine in Lumthari village in the Ksan area on December 13 last year.
On January 28, the Supreme Court had asked the Centre and the Meghalaya government to continue their multi-agency operations to rescue the miners.
The families, however, have requested that the compensation be increased, he said.
East Jaintia Hills district deputy commissioner F M Dopth had submitted all the letters to the state government on April 16 last and cited that the operation be called off as there had been no tangible result.
Depth also informed that there was no reduction of water level at the main shaft where the miners are trapped even after several crores litre of water had been discharged.
Currently, submersible pumps of Coal India Ltd, Kirloskar Brothers Ltd and KSB are engaged in pumping out water from the ill-fated mine and nearby mines on a daily basis.
The ongoing operation involves the NDRF, the Indian Navy, the Army and the Air Force besides the states disaster response team and the fire services.
The Supreme Court monitors the operation on a weekly basis.
The district administration has paid Rs 3 lakh interim relief to the families of the 16 miners trapped in the mine at Ksan area but the families have demanded the relief amount be increased, Dopth said.
Of the 21 miners who went down on the morning of December 13 last year, 5 narrowly escaped the flooded mine and the rest were trapped.
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SP has ended contract with I-PAC due to fund constraints: Akhilesh Yadav
Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said his party has severed its association with the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) due to a lack of funds.
He dismissed speculations that the termination of contract was because of recent election results.
Addressing a press conference here, Yadav said the party had engaged I-PAC for a brief period ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections but could not continue the arrangement.
"Yes, we had an association. They worked with us for a few months, but we are not able to continue because we do not have that kind of funding," he said.
The I-PAC is a political consultancy firm known for managing major election campaigns across the country.
Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor has also been associated with the organisation in the past and has worked with multiple parties, including the BJP and the Congress.
In a lighter vein, Yadav took a swipe at the ecosystem of political consultancies. "We thought that if we have to work with a 'winning agency', then there are several big companies."
He said that some people suggested conducting surveys, hiring another firm, keeping a social media company, and even engaging agencies for negative campaigning against other parties.
"There are one or two more companies whose names are not yet known. I can get those for you as well," Yadav said.
Yadav rejected the suggestion that the decision to end the deal was influenced by recent election outcomes in states such as West Bengal.
"There is no such thing. Do not ask questions based on baseless reports. That is not true," he said.
"This is not the reason for ending the agreement. We simply do not have enough funds. If you (the media) give us funds, we can hire another company," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.
