With 15 miners stuck in a flooded "rat-hole" coal mine in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills for nearly two weeks, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma admitted on Wednesday that they had to halt operations to pump out water from the mine due to the non-availability of high-power pumps. He, however, added that the state is in the process of acquiring these high-power pumps for the rescue operations. "The situation right now is very difficult. Almost the entire river came into the mine. Two lakh litres of water have been pumped out but the water level is rising," Mr Sangma told NDTV.
