New Delhi: 

The Director General of Mines Safety (DGMS) compiled the report of incidents that took place in coal and lignite mines across the country.

Referring to the coal mine accident that took place at Umrangso in Assam’s Dima Hasao district, Reddy said that an incident took place at a rat-hole mine on January 6.

“The Government of Assam has informed that a tragic rat-hole mine accident took place on 06/01/2025 at the 19 No. block of Assam Quarry, Kalamati under Umrangso Police Station of Dima Hasao district, when some unspecified numbers of labourers were extracting coal from an illegal coal mine and suddenly water gushed into the mine and flooded it. Some of the labourers had managed to escape using the onsite crane, however, nine labourers were trapped inside the flooded mine. The mortal remains of all labourers have been recovered after 44 days of continuous joint rescue operations of Central and State agencies and their bodies have been handed over to respective families,” Reddy said.

As many as 226 deaths took place due to accidents in coal and lignite mines in the country during the last five years, the government said in the Parliament on Monday.

Informing this in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of Coal and Mines, G Kishan Reddy has said that of the total 226 deaths, at least 53 took place in 2020, followed by 51 in 2021, 28 in 2022, 41 in 2023 and 53 1in 2024.

Adoption of safety strategy :

“A web portal has been developed encompassing seven modules for Underground (UG), Opencast (OC), and mixed mines to evaluate each mine in a transparent manner. The portal comprises seven modules related to following parameters -Mine geometry, Environmental, Adoption of technology- best mining practices, Economic performance, Rehabilitation and resettlement, Employees welfare and Safety and security,” he said.

Reddy said that the Government has issued a star rating policy to evaluate all operating coal and lignite mines based on the performance of compliance with rules and regulations regarding safety, environment, rehabilitation of project affected families, welfare of workers, adoption of best mining practices, adoption of latest and safest technology, economic performance etc.

In another reply, Reddy said that there are 408 coal-producing mines in the country as on March 31, 2024.

“The 11th round of the commercial coal mines auction was launched on 05.12.2024. Till February 2025, 131 captive and commercial coal mines have been allocated through auction route. Out of 131 captive and commercial coal mines, 119 coal blocks have been allocated to private companies and 12 coal blocks to government companies,” Reddy said.

According to Reddy, Clause 26.3.1 (h) of the agreement executed between Ministry of Coal and successful bidder, prescribes that allocation of coal block may be terminated upon delay in achievement of the Efficiency Parameters (Milestones) by the successful bidder for more than three instances (in aggregate and not over a specified period) as provided in Clause 10.3.

“No mine has been terminated by the Ministry of Coal under the provision 26.3.1 (h) of the agreement,” he informed.

Steps taken to check Illegal mining of coal :

The Government of India has launched one mobile app namely “Khanan Prahari” and one web app Coal Mine Surveillance and Management System (CMSMS) for reporting unauthorized coal mining activities so that monitoring and taking suitable action on it can be done by law & order authority.

According to the coal ministry, concrete walls have been erected on the mouth of the abandoned mines to prevent access and illegal activities in these areas. Surprise raids and checks being conducted jointly by security personnel and law and order authorities of the concerned State Government. Dumping of the overburden is being done on the outcrop zones. Installation of check-posts at vulnerable points. Training of existing security and CISF personnel, refresher training and basic training of new recruits in security discipline for strengthening the security setup. Committees and task forces have been constituted at different levels (block level, sub divisional level, district level, state level) in some subsidiaries of CIL to monitor different aspects of illegal mining.

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