Dewatering operations at the flooded mine of Singareni Collieries continued on Tuesday, though officials sounded pessimistic on the chances of survival of the 17 miners trapped since yesterday.

Executive Director of Singareni Colleries T R K Rao described the chances of survival  of the miners as 'very, very remote'.

"The dewatering operations, which commenced at 1800 hours IST on Monday, are expected to be completed only by 1600 hours IST this evening. We have drained out water up to 13.75 metres from the inundated mine. The present flood water level at the mine is 51 metres," he added.

The deputy director general of mines safety, based in Hyderabad, will conduct a probe into the cause of the accident.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced the families of the 17 miners will be provided an ex-gratia of Rs 600,000 each.