Safety in mines to be priority for coal cos: Govt
The government on Friday asked coal companies not to compromise on safety in coal mines and make necessary investments for it, especially in underground ones, which was a thrust area for increasing coal production in the 11th plan.
By PTI |
KOLKATA: The government on Friday asked coal companies not to compromise on safety in coal mines and make necessary investments for it, especially in underground ones, which was a thrust area for increasing coal production in the 11th plan.
"The coal companies are going to face much bigger challenges in areas of safety, but there should be no compromise as far as safety is concerned, whether the mine is profitable or loss-making. Money should not be a problem for ensuring safety," Union Coal Secretary H C Gupta told a National workshop on 'safety leadership capacity building' here.
He said greater attention has to be paid on the safety aspect in underground mines, as there was an ambitious target of enhancing production to 75 million tonne at the end of the 11th plan from these mines from the present level of 46 million tonne.
He said safety has become all the more important with the country setting up an ambitious target of doubling coal production from the existing level of 430 million tonne in the next 10 years and with a large number of coal blocks going to private companies.
Gupta said Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS) should strengthen its regulatory mechanism to ensure safety in mines.
A total of 104 miners had lost their lives in 2006 in accidents in mines of Coal India subsidiaries, CIL sources said.
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