The search and recovery operations at the under-construction NHPC Teesta Stage-VI hydroelectric project in Namchi district concluded today, ably assisted by a specialised 12-member mines rescue team from the Asansol-based Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL).
The ECL possesses expertise in handling complex subterranean emergencies, including underground fires, inundation, subsidence, and toxic gas rescue operations. It operates in Raniganj coalfields, country’s oldest coal-bearing region which is more than 252 years old.
According to ECL Chairman-cum-Managing Director Satish Chandra Jha, the specialised team was swiftly deployed via the Panagarh Air Base and quickly accelerated the intensive search and debris clearance process.
Officials noted that almost 50 per cent of the victims hail from West Bengal. As the massive multi-agency operations were launched, anxious family members of the missing workers clung to hope, yearning for a miraculous survival story reminiscent of the historic 1989 Mahabir Colliery disaster in Raniganj.
“A specialised mines rescue team from West Bengal was spearheading operations at the collapsed NHPC Teesta-VI hydroelectric project in Sikkim. The expert team worked tirelessly to clear toxic gas and debris following a fatal methane explosion that claimed the lives of over twenty workers, including several from West Bengal,” CMD Jha added.
This marks the first time an expert mines rescue unit from West Bengal has been deployed to a disaster site in a neighbouring state.
In a swift response to the Sumerdung tunnel collapse at the NHPC Teesta Stage-VI Hydroelectric Project, the ECL deployed a 12-member mines rescue team to assist in the critical search and rescue operations. It is the second rescue team sent from West Bengal. The elite team was led by Abhijit Kundu, Superintendent of Rescue at the ECL Mines Rescue Station in Sitarampur. The deployment follows an urgent request for assistance from NHPC authorities and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).