It is now being in practice that coal mines are collapsing consecutively every year but the relevant authorities have failed to craft a system that can help the colliers timely. Unfortunately there is no system in the country to monitor the mining areas and the procedure of safety that is providing to mine labor. After every such an incident the government and mining companies announcing compensations for dead collier’s family’s but in most of cases that add could not reach to those families on time. There the most important issue is that every government is just relying on short term measures but not making decisions for long term practical program that is why these incidents are increasing day by day.
On Friday, another deadly incident have took 12 lives, when a coal mine was collapsed on mine labors and after 24 hours the authorities confirmed that eight colliers remain trapped inside a collapsed coal mine in Quetta’s Sanjidi area with authorities retrieving the corpses of four workers who have died in the unfortunate incident.
Rescuers have removed the debris up to 3,600 feet by using heavy machinery, the rescue efforts, however, have faced a delay due to the laying of a second power line and the removal of debris.
It is hoped that the rescue teams will soon reach the workers trapped inside the mine which collapsed due to an explosion caused by the accumulation of gas but there is no chance of recuing any collier alive.
A day earlier, Deputy Director of Rescue Asghar Jamali said that the colliers were trapped at a depth of 4,000 feet.
The rescue teams, including mine rescue and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), were facing difficulties due to the gas and debris.
Reacting to the incident Mineral Resources and Finance Minister Mir Shoaib Nosherwani has taken notice of the incident and had ordered an investigation.
Meanwhile, Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind has assured a thorough probe into the incident while warning that strict action will be taken against those responsible for negligence.
Although the government is claiming yet again, that responsible for the deadly event will be punish according to the law, but it’s not for the first time that any government is making such statement. If we have look at the history of these incidents no administration had fulfilled its claims.
According to the reports over 300 coal miners dying in Pakistan’s coal mines every year. Just one village of Pakistan, Shangla, receives over 50 dead and over 200 crippled bodies of coal miners every year.
Sadly, over 90 per cent of coal miners are not registered with the EOBI. This is an unforgiveable failure of the institution. Describing the miners’ exploited lives, the secretary general of the Pakistan Central Mines Labor Federation said, “They usually start working at the age of 13 and by the time they reach 30, they are forced into unemployment due to chronic respiratory illnesses, tuberculosis, loss of eyesight, and injuries.” Also deprived of EOBI benefits, the pension-less coal mine retirees are driven into a life of misery, poverty, and dependence.
Thus the first task for the new government in Pakistan ought to be to dismantle this deathly Bermuda triangle of greedy mine owners, corrupt and inept mine departments, and dysfunctional EOBI. Caring for the well-being of downtrodden citizens is the key to a progressive and prosperous Pakistan.
Therefor if the government wants to overcome on the issue of collier’s deaths rate, than it is necessary to make the mining companies responsible for the safety and health facilities of their labor, in which after death compensations and handicapped funds could be includes as-well. These companies should also be bound to update their machineries and equipment’s for reducing the ratio of such incidents.
