The Hindu : National : Bodies of 30 miners recovered

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Sep 08, 2006

National

National

Bodies of 30 miners recovered

Ex-gratia announced; chances of survival of the remaining workers bleak

— Photo: AP

AS TIME TICKS AWAY: An anxious crowd awaits the outcome of the rescue operation in a mine of the Nagda Colliery at Bhatdih, about 150 km northeast of Ranchi, on Thursday.

Dhanbad (Jharkhand): Thirty of the 50 miners trapped in a coal mine here have died due to inhalation of carbon monoxide following an explosion underground. Authorities virtually ruled out the survival of the others.

``Rescue teams have recovered 30 bodies from the Bhatdih mines after managing to reach the 17th level of the mine and efforts are on to rescue the remaining nearly 20 workers,'' Union Coal Minister Shibu Soren told PTI.

Twenty rescue teams from the BCCL and other Coal India subsidiaries, Eastern Coalfields and Central Coalfields, were engaged in rescue operations and were drilling holes to let in fresh air into the mine. Four miners managed to come out.

Soren orders probe

Kolkata Special Correspondents reports:

Union Coal Minister Shibu Soren, who rushed to the site along with the Coal Secretary, has ordered a departmental enquiry. He announced an ex-gratia payment for the family members. Under the present rules the next of kin will get a job.

Shashi Kumar, chairman of Coal India Ltd (CIL), which mines 80 per cent of the country's coal and is the holding company for Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) told The Hindu from Dhanbad that it was undoubtedly a major accident, the likes of which had not been witnessed in recent times.

Blast caused gas leak

Gas leakage is believed to have started after the mine was blasted for extracting coal. Partha S. Bhattacharjee, chairman-cum-managing director of BCCL, told The Hindu that the incident happened at a depth of 200 metres and a pocket of natural gas apparently opened up after the explosion.

Mr. Kumar said a three-member committee, headed by the CMD of the Centre for Mine Design and Planning India Ltd (CMPDIL), would conduct the enquiry and submit its findings in a fortnight.

Although rescue operations were delayed as the safety of the rescue teams had to be ensured first, air vents have been opened, paving the way for fresh air. Shafts were being cut to create access to the site.

Trade unions' concern

New Delhi Special Correspondent reports:

The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has expressed concern over the mine disaster and the "failure to start rescue operations" owing to non-availability of necessary technical expertise and manpower.

In a statement issued here, the CITU asked the coal companies to carry out rescue operations, and expressed sympathy with the family members of those whose lives are under grave threat.

#151; Photo: AFP

Rescue team members enter a seam of the Bhatdih colliery in Dhanbad on Thursday, a day after a massive explosion trapped 54 miners in a coal mine. &

Blaming the Government's policy of "dualism under neo-liberalisation" to extract as much coal as possible while ignoring the underground mine development and development of a mine safety net, the CITU said mining ethics did not allow any mine-holder abandoning an underground mine before all the available coal was extracted and sand filling was accomplished.

The All India Central Council of Trade Unions also expressed grief over the accident and demanded the resignation of Mr. Soren.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National

News Update

Stories in this Section