The Hindu Business Line : Mining sector urged to improve safety measures

New Delhi, Oct. 25 The Vice-President, Mr M. Hamid Ansari, has said that while the Indian mining industry has achieved phenomenal progress in production and productivity, accidents are also occurring.

Addressing a function organised by the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS), Mr Ansari pointed out the death rate and serious injury rate/ thousand persons had increased during this decade.

“This needs to be addressed with alacrity, notwithstanding the progress made on safety issues in the decades after the nationalisation of coal mines and also considering the fact that our record is better than that of many other coal-producing countries,” said Mr Ansari.

The Vice-President expressed his concern that the total number of inspections carried out by the DGMS had come down by a third in the last 15 years – from 9,942 in 1991 to 7041 in 2006. The paucity of human resources is an obvious bottleneck to inspection work, he said.

Paucity of inspectors

The DGMS Web site notes that “keeping in mind the limited resources available by way of inspecting officers and associated infrastructure, it is humanly impossible for them to ensure compliance by management at all times and at all work places.”

Mr Ansari called upon them to correct this situation at the earliest and empower the regulator for mines safety to recruit the requisite talent. “This would ensure that lack of personnel does not hinder inspections and thereby cause more human fatalities and casualties,” he added.

Later presenting The National Safety Awards (Mines), Mr Ansari praised the efforts of the DGMS in organising safety campaigns and observing safety weeks, holding first aid and rescue competitions and undertaking awareness and information dissemination.

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