Coal Miner’s Day: A tribute to men in India’s most dangerous profession

We all are happy when our workday is over and we eagerly go home to our families. It never occurs to us that there may be any danger in doing our day’s work, as most of us are engaged in safe professions. Barring some extraordinary occurrences, we all generally return to our home after work. But, there are some professions wherein there is no such guarantee. Coal Mining is one of these professions. It is known to be India’s, most dangerous profession. Coal Miners are the men who know that they may not return home after the day’s work is over, still they walk to the coal mines and lower themselves into the labyrinthine depths as a routine. Coal mining is done to extract coal from the ground. Coal is important for its energy content. Coal is being  used for generating electricity. Further, various industries like steel and cement utilise coal as a fuel to extract iron from iron ore and also for production of cement. As per a report published in June 2016 in ieBussiness, there was a fatal  accident every ten days where a miner lost his life. Though fatalities in 2015 were far less than 1975, still the rate was about 50 deaths for the 12 months. These were mostly caused due to accidents by roof falls and the collapse of the side walls of the coal mine. India operates about 569 coal mines, apart from 1,770 non-coal mines and  67 oil and gas mines, as of 2016. There are various small mines, too. All of these mines produce about 89 types of different mineral. These employ more than 1 million workers on a daily basis. The mining  sector contributes about 5 per cent to India’s gross domestic product. In India, safety in mine is regulated by the Office of Directorate General of Mines Safety, Ministry of Labour and Employment. These evaluate the safety measures adopted in the state run mines. The employees of state-owned coal mines are governed by the same  safety rules as those of Air India or other agencies. But still, compensation rates in case of accidents are lower and it is only about Rs 10 lakh for injuries or death. Further, miners are subjected to the hazards like humidity, heat, dust, and noise, which adversely affect their health. On this Coal Miner’s Day, let’s all realise that behind every ray of electricity light, there is someone risking his life for us to go deep in mines to extract coal for thermal power and many other facilities we take granted as a matter of routine.