The second problem was physics. The drill bit was designed for coal, not the jagged, waterlogged sandstone above the mine. Every two feet, the bit shattered. Engineers told Gill it would take 10 days. The miners had 48 hours of oxygen left.
But one man refused to accept that verdict.
He had built the rescue capsule himself in a local workshop. It was a narrow steel cylinder, open at the top, with a simple latch. It was never tested. Mission Raniganj
Jaswant Singh Gill looked at her, then at the crowd, then at the dark hole he had just climbed out of. He simply said: "Don't thank me. Thank the rock. It held."
Suddenly, a deafening crack echoed through the tunnel. A nearby river had secretly eaten away at the rock above, and now, millions of gallons of water came crashing through the roof of the mine. The men barely had time to scream. The second problem was physics
When he stepped onto solid ground, a miner’s wife fell at his feet. "You gave me back my husband," she sobbed.
Gill shouted down the line: "Don't sing. Dig. Build a platform of coal bags. Every inch above the water is life." Engineers told Gill it would take 10 days
Gill took over. He personally adjusted the drilling pressure, ignoring the screaming warnings of the rig operators. He introduced a radical idea—pumping bentonite slurry (liquid clay) into the hole to seal the cracks and stop the water from flooding the air pocket. It was a gamble. Too little, and the mine floods. Too much, and the men are buried in mud.
The first miner—a frail old man—was strapped into the capsule. Gill signaled the winch operator. The capsule rose. One foot. Ten feet. Fifty feet. Then it jammed.
For his bravery, Jaswant Singh Gill was awarded the Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak, India’s highest civilian gallantry award for rescue operations. To this day, the rescue of 65 miners from the flooded Raniganj coal mine remains one of the greatest and most audacious mining rescues in world history. They called it a miracle. But miracles, as Gill proved, are just stubborn men who refuse to let go.