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Coal Ministry constituted a Committee headed by the Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited for holding a departmental enquiry to the June 15 accident at the Saundra Colliery in which 14 miners were killed. The report of the committee showed that the accident occurred by fall of a large area of standing roof in the decoaled area leading to air blast which led to rush of water through the caved area and due to negligence of officials, the Union Minister of State for Coal, Dr. Dasari Naryana Rao informed the Lok Sabha today. The Minister said, a final view will be taken only after the report of the Court of Inquiry ordered by the Ministry of Labour is received. The Minister was replying to a calling attention motion by MPs Shri Bhubneshwar Prasad Mehta and Shri S. Sudhakar Reddy on recurring accidents at the colliery.
The Minister said that Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) has paid compensation to the affected families varying from Rs.10.32 lakh to Rs.11.86 lakh. Employment has also been given to one dependent of each deceased. The families of deceased have also been allowed to retain the company quarters. In addition, the Prime Minister has sanctioned an ex-gratia of Rs.1.00 lakh to each family from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund. Coal India Limited (CIL) has sanctioned Rs.1.00 lakh to each family as additional ex-gratia. Families of the deceased are entitled to provident fund of Rs. 3 to 4 lakh and pension.
When the Minister visited the site the very next day, he ordered the departmental inquiry and suspension of concerned officials. Five officials of CCL including the General Manager have been suspended. Safety has been integrated into process of coal mining itself. An institutional arrangement is in place to keep vigil and monitor all aspects of safety in coal mines at various levels. Participation of workers' representatives is ensured at all levels of safety monitoring.
Besides, the Government is promoting a number of other initiatives to promote safety awareness, such as : conference on safety in mines, workers' participation in safety management, tripartite and bipartite reviews at various levels, training of work force, observance of safety weeks and safety campaigns and National Safety Awards. Besides, modern technologies are being adopted to reduce accidents in underground mines.
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