1. FOR PAST SEVERAL DAYS (JANUARY 11 - 13) INDIAN PRESS
COVERAGE OF THE CHASNALA MINE DISASTER HAS PAINTED A BLEAK PICTURE
FOR A BREAKTHROUGH IN FINDING ANY TRAPPED MINERS ALIVE AS SEEPAGE
FROM NEARBY DAMODAR RIVER AND ABANDONED MINES POSE DEWATERING
PROBLEMS. ON BASIS OF A REVISED LIST OF TRAPPED MINERS, THE
NUMBER NOW STANDS AT 375, THREE MORE THANORIGINAL ESTIMATES.
HOWEVER, THERE CONTINUES TO BE SOME CONTROVERY OVER THESE
FIGURES AND WHETHER SOME OF THE MINERS WERE CONTRACT LABORERS
OR SUBSTITUTES FOR WHOM NO ACCOUNTING WAS MADE. QUESTIONS OF
NEGLIGENCE AT CHASNALA, ADEQUATE MINE SAFETY CHECKS, AND
HIGHER COMPENSATION FOR THE FAMILIES OF THE TRAPPED MINERS WERE
ALSO FULLY AIRED IN THE PRESS AND IN PARLIAMENT.
2. A STATESMAN ARTICLE SAYS, "HOPES FOR AN EARLY BREAKTHROUGH
IN THE RESCUE OF THE 375 MINERS TRAPPED IN THE FLOODED COAL MINE
HERE RECEDED TODAY (JANUARY 11), WITH THE AUTHORITIES FEARING
HEAVY SEEPAGE FROM THE NEARBY DAMODAR RIVER AND ABANDONED MINES.
FIVE OF THE INDIAN PUMPS INSTALLED HERE STOPPED WORKING TODAY
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DUE TO WORKING DIFFICULTIES, REDUCING THE DISCHARGE FROM 12,000
GALLONS PER MINUTE TO 10,000 GALLONS PER MINUTE. WITH THIS
SETBACK, ONLY 11 INDIAN AND 2 RUSSIAN PUMPS OUT OF 20, FOUR
OF THEM RUSSIAN, WERE WORKING NOW. FIVE HIGH CAPACITY POLISH
PUMPS WERE YET TO ARRIVE HERE."
3. THE HINDUSTANT TIMES QUOTES OFFICIAL SOURCES AS SAYING THAT
A PRELIMINARY OFFICIAL INQUIRY TO DETERMINE THE NUMBER OF WORKERS
INVIVED REVEALED MANY BAFFLING FACTS AND MANY MISSING LINKS FOR
WHICH NO SATISFACTORY EXPLANATIONS ARE AVAILABLE. AMONG THEM
WAS THE NAME OF AN EMPLOYEE IN THE PIT HEAD REGISTER WHO HAD
STOPPED WORKING LONG AGO AND THE ABSENCE OF TWO OTHERS WHO
WERE ACTUALLY WORKING INSIDE THE MINE AT THE TIME OF THE DISASTER.
4. ACCORDING TO A REPORT APPEARING IN THE TIMES OF INDIA, "HOPE
FOR AN EARLY END OF THE 16 DAY OLD GRIM BATTLE FOR DEWATERING THE
INUNDATED COLLIERY RECEDED TODAY WITH THE AUTHORITES FEARING
HEAVY SEEPAGES FROM THE NEARBY DAMODAR AND ABANDONED MINES."
ALTHOUGH REPORT CLAIMS THAT 80 MILLION GALLONS HAD BEEN PUMPED OUT,
THE FALL IN THE WATER LEVEL WAS ONLY 90 METERS IN THE 168 METER
DEEP FIRST HORIZON, AND WAS NOT KEEPING PACE WITH THE INCREASED
DRAINAGE.
5. THE PATRIOT SAYS, "THIRTEEN PUMPS, INCLUDING TWO SOVIET
ONES, ARE WORKING ROUND THE CLOCK TO DRAIN OUT WATER FROM THE FLOODJA
ED CHASNALA MINE. " ACCORDING TO SEVERAL LABOR LEADERS, IF
IT WERE NOT FOR HEAVY SEEPAGES, THE FIRST HORIZON WOULD BE CLEARED
OF WATER IN THREE OR FOUR DAYS. BUT IN VIEW OF THESE HANDICAPS,
THE ENTIRE OPERATION MIGHT TAKE 15 TO 20 DAYS MORE.
6. THE TIMES OF INDIA NOTES INNUMERABLE PROBLEMS IN DEWATERING
THE MINE, WITH 24 MILLION GALLONS HAVING SEEPED INTO THE
MINE CREATING FURTHER COMPLICATIONS. THE ARTICLE SAYS THERE IS NO
OROBLEM IN PUMPING OUT WATER FROM THE TWO PITES-- THE PROBLEM IS IN
THROWING OUT WATER FROM THE TWO INCLINES WHICH ARE NARROW IN STRUCTURE,
CHOKED AND NEED EXTENSIVE SUPPORT.
7. IN DISCUSSING THE CASNALA MINE DISASTER IN THE LOK SABHA
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(LOWER HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT), THE MINISTER OF STEEL AND MINES,
MR. YADAV, SAID, "THE WATER LEVEL IN THE MINE HAD GONE DOWN
BY 97 FEET AND THE SEEPAGE OF ONE MILLION GALLONS PER DAY IN THE
MINE WAS NORMAL AND DID NOT HAMPER RESCUE OPERATIONS. EIGHTY-SIX
MILLION GALLONS OF WATER HAD BEEN REMOVED. THE DAMODAR
RIVER WAS 2000 METERS FROM THE MINE AND THERE WAS NO POSSIBILITY
OF SEEPAGE FROM THE RIVER." HE NOTED THERE WERE SOME INTERRUP-
TIONS IN DWATERING, BUT THAT THE INDIAN
AND SOVIET PUMPS WERE TRYING TO GET OVER THESE DIFFICULTIES. AS THE
WATER LEVEL WAS GOING DOWN, PROBLEMS LIKE POLUTION AROSE.
8. THE INDIAN EXPRESS REPORTS THE DAILY SEEPAGE IS 1.25 MILLION
GALLONS. THIS PAPER SAYS, "SIXTY-SIX MINERS ARE TRAPPED IN THE
FIRST HORIZON. THE REMAINING 306 MINERS ARE IN THE SECOND HORIZON
450 FEET FURTHER DOWN. THEIR FATE APPEARS SEALED BECAUSE DRAING
ING OUT WATER BELOW THE FIRST HORIZON MIGHT BECOME PAINFULLY SLOW
ON ACCOUNT OF THE SILT AND MUCK PRESENT AT THAT LEVEL."SAXBE
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