In yet another coalmine tragedy, 15 precious lives have been lost. According to reports, 13 people were working in a 400-foot deep coalmine in Sinjidi area of Balochistan when an explosion caused by methane gas concentration brought a major section of it crashing down. Two of the five volunteers were also killed while trying to rescue the miners trapped under the rubble. Obviously, the volunteer rescuers were not properly equipped for the task, and the mine owners had no arrangements in place to deal with any eventuality. This is the second such incident in the current year. Last May, two separate incidents claimed 23 lives, 16 in Manawar not far from Quetta, also because of a methane explosion, and seven in the northern Surrange coalfield. There have been several similar 'accidents' in the previous years as well. Back in 2011, 45 miners were killed in Surrange area. It would be wrong to see these tragic events as accidents; they are disasters that were waiting to happen because of the callous disregard with which the mining companies ignore their responsibilities toward poor workers.
Sadly, despite recurring tragedies proprietors of the mining companies, private as well as the semi-autonomous Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation, have not invested in safety measures. In most cases, labourers work under primitive conditions. More to the point, although methane build-up is a clear and present danger, as the aforementioned incidents show, the required ventilation arrangements remain missing. This could not have gone on without the connivance of the regulatory authorities. To say the least, it is an unconscionable dereliction on their part, and must come to a stop. It is about time the provincial government took serious notice of the prevailing conditions in the mining sector and did all that is necessary to ensure implementation of the requisite safety standards. All must be made to comply and violators held to account.
That should start with proper investigations into the present incident. Responsibility needs to be fixed where it belongs, and the result announced. Also, since the victims are all poor people - a large majority of them from other parts of the country, mostly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa - it must be ensured that their families are given assistance money to tide over some of their urgent needs. The Pakistan Central Mines Labour Federation has been demanding Rs 2 million for each family. Those liable, namely the mine owners, ought to make the payments without any let or hindrance. More than anything else, all concerned must effectively address the causes of repeated 'accidents'. Observing safety standards should become the norm in that minerals-and-metals-rich part of the country. Where human lives are involved, there cannot, must not, be any room for compromise.