Navy's remote operated vehicle to determine visibility at Meghalaya mine's bottom gets stuck

An unmanned, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) of the Navy which was sent down the 370-feet-deep rat-hole coal mine in Meghalaya, where 15 miners are trapped since December 13, to determine visibility at the base of the shaft reportedly got stuck Monday, officials said.

The unmanned vehicle was put into service to determine the visibility deep down at the bottom of the mine shaft and in case if there was any sign of the trapped miners, a senior government official told PTI, requesting anonymity.

"The underwater remotely operated vehicle got stuck at the bottom of the 370-feet-mine where the depth of water is over 160 feet," the official told PTI.

How the machine got stuck is yet to be established, but rescue officials at the site suspect that the vehicle could have got itself entangled with some parts of the pump put in by Kirloskar Borthers Ltd which had fallen down.

Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, who was overseeing the entire operation, was also not alerted about the matter as it was