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Rat Hole Mining is a process that involves digging very small tunnels, usually about 3-4 feet deep, in which workers, more often children, enter and extract coal.
Rat-hole mining, popular in Meghalaya, involves drilling small holes in the earth for coal extraction.
The Uttarkashi tunnel rescue mission witnessed some positive outcomes on Tuesday morning as overnight manual drilling went without a hitch, covering over two metres. An auger machine is also being used to push in the pipe to create an escape passage.
Rescuers in Uttarakhand are employing the controversial rat-hole mining technique to extract 41 trapped labourers after modern machinery failed. This outlawed practice involves creating small pits and horizontal tunnels to access coal seams. Despite a National Green Tribunal ban due to safety concerns, rat-hole mining is reportedly still rampant in some regions.
At the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi, at least 12 experts have been called by Trenchless Engineering Services Private Limited and Navayuga Engineers Private limited for applying the rat-hole mining technique horizontally in the collapsed part of the main structure.