NEW DELHI, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- India's Supreme Court on Thursday pulled up the local government of the northeastern state of Meghalaya for their delay in rescuing 15 coal miners trapped inside a mine for the past 22 days, officials said.
The apex court said it was not satisfied with the rescue efforts.
"We're not satisfied with rescue operations. No matter whether they are all dead, some alive, few dead or all alive, they should be taken out," the court in its order said. "We pray to God they are alive."
The top court's reprimand came in a petition seeking urgent steps as part of rescue efforts by the government in rescuing the trapped miners.
The 15 miners were trapped on Dec. 13 inside the mine at Ksan near Lytein River under Saipung police station in East Jaintia Hills, about 140 km east of Shillong, the capital city of Meghalaya.
Although the rescue efforts to save the trapped men began immediately, however, low-capacity pumps used by the National Disaster Response Force personnel during the first two weeks turned out ineffective in extracting water from the collapsed flooded coal mine.
Last week, Indian authorities stepped up rescue efforts as a heavy-lift transport plane of Indian Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules plane carried high-power pumps and other equipment for the aid of disaster response force personnel.
However, so far rescue efforts have not yielded any results.
Experts said there remains a little hope for the survival of trapped miners.
Meghalaya is one of the mineral-rich states in India and has nearly 640 million tonnes of coal reserves.
Activists said illegal coal mining is going on in the state despite a ban from India's environmental court, National Green Tribunal, in 2014 on unscientific mining in the area.
In 2012, at least 15 miners were trapped in an illegal coal mine in South Garo Hills, district of Meghalaya. Their bodies were never recovered, reports said.
