After disaster, a mine safety audit

Risky mines will be shut. That is the decision taken by Bharat Coking Coal after the loss of 50 miners at its Bhatdee mines, which were in the high-risk category.

A safety audit on all the risk-prone mines will identify those that need to be closed down.

"We have six 'degree 3' mines that are considered most risky because of the high methane content in per tonne coal," the Chairman and Managing Director of the company, Partho S Bhattacharya, said.

On the basis of methane content, mines are classified into degree 1, degree 2 and degree 3, with the latter being the most dangerous with methane content of 10 cubic millimetres per tonne coal. Bhatdee mines are degree 3 mines.

"We cannot ensure 100 per cent safety in degree 3 mines. So we are contemplating closing down a few degree 3 mines, whose production is low," he said.

Incidentally, the Bhatdee disaster is the third in the area in the last 10 years. In 2001, 29 people died in water inundation in Bagdigi and in 1995, around 64 people died in Gaslitand due to the same reason.

The company has decided to suspend five engineers in charge of safety in the Bhatdee mines.

"We shall not tolerate any lapses as far as safety is concerned," he said. Could mechanisation have prevented the disaster? "In case of mechanisation, the manpower per tonne of coal production is much less, so the risk is also lesser than in Bhatdee," said Bhattacharya.

The disaster-hit mine was a fully manual one, said the company's technical director, SN Katiyar, who is looking after the rescue operation in Bhatidee. More than 600 miners are employed in the mine in three shifts for a production of close to 200 tonnes of coal a day.

"The problem with such inclined mines like Bhatidee is that the gradient is so steep, you cannot resort to machines," he said.

The investigation of the disaster will also be delayed for a few days because the mine is still full of methane.

"Our priority will be to reduce the density of the gas in the mine by infusing fresh air. Only after that can we start the investigation into why such a disaster took place," he added.

Meanwhile, the company will soon start disbursement of compensation, totalling about Rs 9-12 lakh per person.