What do the rat-hole miners do when they're not rat-hole mining?

A dozen 'rat-hole miners' were instrumental in the rescue of 41 trapped workers in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand on Tuesday, November 28. They were called upon to perform manual tunnelling after the American-made Auger machine malfunctioned while tunnelling horizontally at approximately 45 metres on Friday, November 24.

ALSO READ: 41 workers finally see light at the end of Uttarkashi tunnel after 17 long days

The machine had already encountered issues the day before (on Wednesday) leading to its discontinuation, prompting consideration of a manual rat-hole mining approach.

Rat-hole mining

• Rat-hole mining, an illegal method of coal extraction, entails narrow tunnelling for workers to access and extract coal, mainly practised in some Northeastern states.
• The National Green Tribunal banned rat-hole mining in Meghalaya in 2014.
• Between 2007 and 2014, this mining technique reportedly led to the deaths of 10,000 to 15,000 individuals in Meghalaya, as per a Reuters report.

ALSO READ: What's the rat-hole mining technique used to rescue trapped workers in Uttarkashi tunnel?

Rat-hole miners in Uttarkashi

• Despite the nature and ban of rat-hole mining, the expertise of these miners became the beacon of hope in a life-saving operation that lasted for days in Uttarkashi.
• In this case, the miners, accustomed to working in cramped and hazardous conditions, showed their expertise horizontally excavating through the collapsed structure of debris, concrete, thick steel bars and pipes, that came crumbling down on November 12.
• The miners worked through the 800 mm pipe to get to the chamber of the trapped workers.
• Whereas they are used to operate in narrower pipelines of around 600 mm, said Parsadi Lodhi, a miner.

ALSO READ: American Auger down in Uttarkashi tunnel, 6 plans to rescue 41 trapped workers

• The team led by Vakeel Hasan cleared the last remaining 10 meters of debris in less than 24 hours.
• Parsadi Lodhi,  the miner from Jhansi, said, “I have been doing this work for the last 10-12 years in Delhi and Ahmedabad. But it will be the first time when we will use our skills to rescue men trapped in a tunnel.”

Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority commended their efforts, saying, "Rat miners' talent and experience... it is their capability which is being used."

Rightfully so, the expression to describe the miners, 'rat-hole miner' is a derogatory term too.

What do they do then?

• The expert mining personnel belonged to a Delhi-based Trenchless Engineering Services, which has had experience in projects in India, West Africa, Bahrain, Bangladesh and Taiwan.
• These professionals carry out a varied set of operations, making narrow tunnels through rocks, sand and clay, from the riverbeds to the hills and rocks, laying gas and oil pipelines.

• A leading provider of 'trenchless' services, they have actively engaged in projects such as the Barauni-Guwahati gas pipeline, the 3.6 km long Brahmaputra pipeline, the Vashi Creek pipeline and the Formosa II wind farm installation in Taiwan.
• The personnel employ methods, including horizontal directional drilling, laser-guided tunnel boring and pipe jacking.
• Equipped with a variety of skill sets and accustomed to similar conditions, they successfully completed the task.
• In Silkyara, the challenge they faced required a unique approach to address a different set of issues, which they overcame.

What better way to thank them?

In the words of Munna Qureshi, the miner to break through, "I removed the last rock. I could see them. They hugged us and lifted us. And thanked us for taking us out. We worked continuously in the last 24 hours. I can't express my happiness. I have done it for my country."

ALSO READ: Meet Arnold Dix, the Australian professor who provided technical support in the rescue of 41 workers