I boarded the lift with My colleague. Only two people can barely stand
and travel in that lift. Fully armed with Miner's helmet[Helmet with a Torch on
the top of it], Special Apron, Shoes and
a bunch of instructions. Instructions
were similar to flight announcements. I tried not to reveal my tension and anxiety as we commenced our descent to 1000ft . I was
instructed 'Not move my body and lift my arms'. I was told not to be afraid as there won't be any light in the lift
except at the gate of intermediate stations.
When the bell rang, I took a deep breath and slowly the lift started moving vertically down. Added to
the fear and anxiety, I felt suffocation inside the lift. Because of the
heavy wire rope noise, I started imagining that anytime this rope could break
resulting into a sudden fall. While I was visualising the worst, the lift
stopped. It was the first station at 500ft. As soon as the guy opened the lift, I breathed freely with a
sigh of relief. I realised that once you
are down it is just impossible to get out without this old makeshift lift. Another 10 minutes we
travelled to next 500ft. This time I
felt difficulty in breathing and during the travel my companion always talked
to me something which I did not register at all.
As
I reached the station, I looked for the miners, but I could not see any miners around. He told me to follow him and we
walked through the tunnel which is horizontal to the lift chute. The tunnel is as
big as that of a normal tunnel through
which a tempo can move. First He took me
to a Yellow painted vehicle similar to a police van with wire mesh around. He said, we need to travel
another 2Kms to reach the spot where presently
the mining is in progress. The top of this tunnel was woven with steel [rock weaving] to arrest
any sudden fall of material. Tunnel was totally dark except for the lighted
places. On the way we could hear public
announcements. On another corner, I could see water
gushing down and using heavy pumps the water is continuously pumped out. After a bumpy ride, we were now far away from the
landing station and probably under the main
city. No one above the surface know about people
working 1000ft below them.
Lot
of risk is involved in mining. If the mine
hits an underground river, flooding can take place immediately. There is
always the danger of toxic or
flammable gas, radiation, fall of
material, lack of oxygen etc. Everything in underground was working with generator power. I was experiencing some difficulty
in breathing and for the first time I felt the importance of air around us.
Truly I experienced and understood the reasoning behind many safety requirements in our standards. Months passed. I read about Chile Mine
Accident and the news about 33 miners trapped for many days underground
and rescued safe later. Probably for many days, No contacts , No Food
and No power. I used to follow this news
very closely as I felt like a miner a trapped underground. I realised that the
Experience is the greatest trainer.. But then Life does not give chance to
everyone to learn everything by
experience, and even if you want it also, it is not a desirable situation. But everyone
is gifted with the ability to experience without actually going through. The truth will be revealed, if you wishI never prayed anytime in my life to GOD for air to breathe. But Today I thank him for the realization of the value of breath. The most precious gift I got 'when he breathed into my lifeless body to give me life.