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Unsafe Diving watch the Link ----Foot stuck in four-inch pipe for two days, hope of dam diver’s survival fades
Foot stuck in four-inch pipe for two days, hope of dam diver’s survival fades
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
A diver from the Calcutta team crawls out of a pipe after a futile rescue bid. Picture by Mita Ray
Purulia, Dec. 15: All attempts to extricate the right foot of diver Mukesh K**ar, stuck in a pipe inside a pitch dark and submerged chamber of a Purulia power project’s reservoir since Sunday afternoon, remained unsuccessful till late Tuesday night.
It is feared that the 35-year-old father of two may not have survived the ordeal.
His intake of oxygen, being piped from the surface, dropped this morning, said officials involved in the rescue operations for over 48 hours.
“Until we get hold of the body, officially all that we can say is that efforts are on to get Mukesh out,” said Surojit Dutta, project manager of the hydel power plant nestled in the Ayodhya hills, about 380km from Calcutta.
Divers from a firm in Barrackpore, on the fringes of Calcutta, who specialise in underwater rescue went down last night. “The suction at the mouth of the drainage pipe where his foot is stuck is too great,” said Ashis Dutta, one of the four from the city.
Two divers went down in vain this morning.
In the afternoon, they tied Mukesh with ropes to pull him up from the surface, but it led to fears that his foot might get severed.
“His mask had come off and the body had become stiff because of the cold water and the enormous pressure at such depth,” Ashis said.
Mukesh has been under 120ft of water for over 48 hours and his diving suit is apparently not equipped to maintain pressure beyond 38 hours. Even when he was breathing normally last night, the authorities were concerned about the lack of nutrition and drinking water.
In Jhajjar, Haryana, where his wife Pinki lives with their children, the family has been informed about the developments. Other members of the team of seven with which Mukesh came to Purulia to repair an underwater leak called her.
The Mumbai-based Grafftech Marine and Engineering Company had assigned the job to the team from Visakhapatnam after officials of the Purulia Pumped Storage Project contracted it to locate and repair the leak in a reservoir chamber, first noticed in March.
Asked how the accident happened, Grafftech project manager C.K. Baruah said the foot must have been pulled in by the suction of the drainage pipe when he stepped on it. His teammates could not pull him out on Sunday afternoon because, the official said, a nervous Mukesh held on to them every time they came near him.
As a result of the leak in the pipe, the water level in the reservoir had been going down and hurting power generation.
Baruah said the job was to locate the leak in the inundated reservoir chamber, find out what had caused it and carry out repairs.
The repair work was to have been recorded on camera but there is no footage of Mukesh’s dive.
Baruah admitted that such assignments were risky. “That is why divers with experience and capable of taking care of themselves are given such tasks. Mukesh had 10 years’ experience behind him. He was associated with us for five years and was a senior member of the team. But accidents happen. His foot got pulled into the pipe by its powerful suction,” he added.
The divers from Barrackpore, who were summoned on Sunday itself, took almost a day to arrive, allegedly because of a roadblock on Durgapur Expressway.
“We were held up by an agitation on the highway and then we had to find our way to the project site from Purulia town,” said Ashis.
“Maybe the diver could have been saved had they reached by noon yesterday,” an employee of the power plant said.
Another set of divers has started for Purulia from Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh. Their job will possibly be reduced to extricating the body.
Baruah promised a Rs 5- lakh compensation for Mukesh’s wife in case he was found dead.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091216/jsp/bengal/story_11871258.jsp
UPDATED NEWS
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091217/jsp/bengal/story_11876539.jsp
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
A diver from the Calcutta team crawls out of a pipe after a futile rescue bid. Picture by Mita Ray
Purulia, Dec. 15: All attempts to extricate the right foot of diver Mukesh K**ar, stuck in a pipe inside a pitch dark and submerged chamber of a Purulia power project’s reservoir since Sunday afternoon, remained unsuccessful till late Tuesday night.
It is feared that the 35-year-old father of two may not have survived the ordeal.
His intake of oxygen, being piped from the surface, dropped this morning, said officials involved in the rescue operations for over 48 hours.
“Until we get hold of the body, officially all that we can say is that efforts are on to get Mukesh out,” said Surojit Dutta, project manager of the hydel power plant nestled in the Ayodhya hills, about 380km from Calcutta.
Divers from a firm in Barrackpore, on the fringes of Calcutta, who specialise in underwater rescue went down last night. “The suction at the mouth of the drainage pipe where his foot is stuck is too great,” said Ashis Dutta, one of the four from the city.
Two divers went down in vain this morning.
In the afternoon, they tied Mukesh with ropes to pull him up from the surface, but it led to fears that his foot might get severed.
“His mask had come off and the body had become stiff because of the cold water and the enormous pressure at such depth,” Ashis said.
Mukesh has been under 120ft of water for over 48 hours and his diving suit is apparently not equipped to maintain pressure beyond 38 hours. Even when he was breathing normally last night, the authorities were concerned about the lack of nutrition and drinking water.
In Jhajjar, Haryana, where his wife Pinki lives with their children, the family has been informed about the developments. Other members of the team of seven with which Mukesh came to Purulia to repair an underwater leak called her.
The Mumbai-based Grafftech Marine and Engineering Company had assigned the job to the team from Visakhapatnam after officials of the Purulia Pumped Storage Project contracted it to locate and repair the leak in a reservoir chamber, first noticed in March.
Asked how the accident happened, Grafftech project manager C.K. Baruah said the foot must have been pulled in by the suction of the drainage pipe when he stepped on it. His teammates could not pull him out on Sunday afternoon because, the official said, a nervous Mukesh held on to them every time they came near him.
As a result of the leak in the pipe, the water level in the reservoir had been going down and hurting power generation.
Baruah said the job was to locate the leak in the inundated reservoir chamber, find out what had caused it and carry out repairs.
The repair work was to have been recorded on camera but there is no footage of Mukesh’s dive.
Baruah admitted that such assignments were risky. “That is why divers with experience and capable of taking care of themselves are given such tasks. Mukesh had 10 years’ experience behind him. He was associated with us for five years and was a senior member of the team. But accidents happen. His foot got pulled into the pipe by its powerful suction,” he added.
The divers from Barrackpore, who were summoned on Sunday itself, took almost a day to arrive, allegedly because of a roadblock on Durgapur Expressway.
“We were held up by an agitation on the highway and then we had to find our way to the project site from Purulia town,” said Ashis.
“Maybe the diver could have been saved had they reached by noon yesterday,” an employee of the power plant said.
Another set of divers has started for Purulia from Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh. Their job will possibly be reduced to extricating the body.
Baruah promised a Rs 5- lakh compensation for Mukesh’s wife in case he was found dead.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091216/jsp/bengal/story_11871258.jsp
UPDATED NEWS
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091217/jsp/bengal/story_11876539.jsp
Views: 987
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by RAJDEEP DUTTA on
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Sound such a ...... I can feel the pain but after all He say's " I am BACK in Offshore ".
*** Today morning 10 am - 12 noon operation . A diver going down in the valve chamber and cut his trapped legs & pull him his body on surface, found dead finally . ***
"" “His mask had come off and the body had become stiff because of the cold water and the enormous pressure at such depth,” Ashis said.
Mukesh has been under 120ft of water for over 48 hours and his diving suit is apparently not equipped to maintain pressure beyond 38 hours. Even when he was breathing normally last night, the authorities were concerned about the lack of nutrition and drinking water.""
I wish if same things happened again with any one a least try to give HOT WATER supply, may be he can't going on the way of Hypothermia.
I am just shocked about few basic things.
* NO mention about hot water.
* NO Emergency backup.
* NO Inlet / Outlet Gauge of gas supply.( as per local news paper)
* Depth > Dive suit > Deco table ( dont think they are used too )
* Compensation only 10000 USD.
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Permalink Reply by A.. Parnell on
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Dale thanks I could have not said it better myself my thoughts exally thank you.
Like many other divers out here who read this website I wish to send my deepest condolences to diver Mukesh K**ars' family and all of his friends may he rest in peace with God above.
Brother Mukesh you left us way too soon and will be truely missed may God bless your soul.
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Brilliant and very much needed to keep this kind of thinking going.
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I would want someone to help engineer an alternative method of getting a diver out of that mess before we got committed to making the dive. Like lets think ahead "Not what if but when this happens" what will we doing to do to get our diver out of this life threatening situation before we have to cut off a foot, or worse.
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When he was sucked, he also try to go on the same way " Cut the Foot " but the top side brave boys take some time for discussion and may be they not watch the time..... After a while its come evening low light in top side, not have enough back up etc etc etc no 1 ready for dive.
May be the traped diver say's in mind before gona die " OHH god is that called a F*****G death? Next time i will dive with those people who follow the safety." SUCKKkkkkkksssssssssss
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Permalink Reply by Fred C. Johnson on
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Work the job on paper with blue prints of as built, If you can not do the job safe on paper you have no business risking a life.
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UPDANEWS LINK
1. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091217/jsp/bengal/story_11876539.jsp
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Permalink Reply by frank hite on
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fellow divers, wow what a mess. I sure feel bad for the family, people in that part of the world have it rough enough, now they are missing a husband and father. let us think about how many times this probally nearly happens here in the u.s. and is covered up . i know of a situation pretty close to this that happend just less than a year ago. The diver was saved by wraping him up in a nlylon sling and pulling him out with a crane!!!! accidents happen but can be reduced by watching out for what kind of company you work for and what type of people you work with. if you even question the lagitimacy of the company your working for or the compentency of the supervisor running the job, then as rough as times are right now, you still need to pack it up and leave. this stuff is not worth anyones life.
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Permalink Reply by Toby Dodd on
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it's very sad this happened. it's even sadder that things like this still happen after all the training, all the previous accidents and so forth.
delta p
standby diver
plant operator
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Scullion on
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Any with delta P is a dangerous one.I have been diving in Quebec,Canada,for 25 years.Any job involving pressure differentials when working for Hydro-Quebec,on any of their dams,requires a security dive to be conducted prior to the actual work,inspection,survey or whatever.These dives require a specialised dive inspector to be present on the dive site,inspect all gear,compressors,dive plan,and,most important of all supervise the installation of a winch which can pull 5000 lb.in the opposite direction of a possible suction during the dive.All gear,harness,pull rope,gromets,etc,are specially desined to resist a pull of up to 5000 lbs.Yes,all of this is time consuming and costly but can we actually put a price on such tragic accidents?
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