MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COAL (DR. DASARI NARAYANA RAO)
(a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
Statement referred to in reply to parts (a) to (d) of Lok
Sabha Starred Question No. 305 for reply on 5-9-2007.
(a) to (c) : The details of fatal accidents in coal mines of
both public and private sector in the country as furnished by
the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS), Ministry of
Labour & Employment during in the last three years and the
current year are given in the table below:
Year Fatal accidents No. of No. of accidents fatalities
2004 87 96
2005 96 117#
2006@ 79 138##
2007@ 62 64
(till July
07)
@ figures for 2006 & 2007 are provisional
# includes 14 fatalities in an accident at Central Saunda
Colliery of Central Coalfields Ltd. (CCL) on 15/6/2005
## includes 50 fatalities in an accident at Bhatidih
Colliery of Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. (BCCL) on 6/9/2006
The fatality rate in terms of number of fatalities per
million tonnes of production has come down from 6.66 in 1975
to 1.32 in 1985, 0.80 in 1995, and 0.32 in 2006.
The main reasons for the accidents are fall of roof and
sides, accidents in rope haulage and conveyor system, fall of
persons/objects, inundation, gas explosion etc. in underground
mines and accidents in operation of dumpers and other
machinery in opencast mines. The loss of property in case of
accidents in coal mines is not being quantified separately
since the equipment cost involved is insignificant in nature
and mostly the equipment are depreciated.
(d) The management of the colliery is responsible for strict
compliance of the prescribed safety standards in mines. While
the coal companies take all care in observing safety
legislation, they have also a stringent safety monitoring
mechanism at corporate and local levels mainly through
Internal Safety Organisations. The Workmen Inspectors are
also deployed in each mine as per the statutory requirement
and periodic reviews are held at colliery level, area level
and corporate level involving workers representatives and
management. Over and above, the regulatory authority the
Directorate General of Mines Safety regularly undertakes
safety inspection of the mines to enforce compliance of safety
legislation. At national level the safety aspects of coal
mines in the country are reviewed periodically by the Standing
Committee on Safety in Coal Mines under the Chairmanship of
Minister of Coal. Government gives highest priority for safety
of coal mines and miners.
To improve safety performance,, Coal companies are taking the following measures
to reduce number of accidents:
# Scientific roof support systems based on rock-mass-rating
# Increased use of steel supports and roof bolts in place
of timber supports
# Avoiding exposure of workers to hazardous conditions by
mechanisation of loading operations in underground mines
through deployment of side discharge loaders (SDLs) and load
haul dumpers (LHDs) etc. and replacing rope haulages with
conveyor belts wherever feasible
# Introduction of continuous miner technology and long wall
technology in underground mines where ever feasible
# Regular monitoring of mine environment for detecting
inflammable and noxious gases using modern equipments like
digital Multi-Gas Detectors etc.
# Before every monsoon preventive measures against
inundation are implemented through:
$ Strengthening pumping arrangements
$ Emergency plan for keeping vigil on situations
$ Check co-relation survey to establish the barriers
between waterlogged workings wherever danger of inundation
exists
$ Filling up the surface cracks
# Implementation of Code of Practices for Heavy Earth
Moving Machinery operators, maintenance staff & others
# Thrust on training & retraining of supervisors and
workmen including contractor’s workers to increase safety
awareness
# Workers participation in safety management
# Regular safety audit of mines and risk assessment
# Safety monitoring through multi-disciplinary Internal
Safety Organisation (ISO)
