Ensuring miners' safety

Mining is one of the most dangerous industries in the world. According to The World Counts, more than 15,000 deaths resulting from mining occur each year. The Denmark-based website also says that miners are more at risk of injury or death than any other profession. The labourers who work in coal mines are the most vulnerable ones due to their nature of work. There could be sudden collapses of the underground mine and leak of poisonous gases leading to a hazardous situation for workers.
In Bangladesh, we have only one coal mine, which is Barapukuria underground coal mine in Dinajpur. The main purpose of the mine is to supply coal to the coal-fired Barapukuria power plant located at the mine's mouth. However, it has been alleged by many that the coal mine is not miner-friendly at all. It is vulnerable of being flooded by water. At several coal production areas, the working condition of the miners is very poor with very high temperature and humidity, endangering the health and safety of the miners. However, the underground mine has managed to be free from major accidental events like gas explosion, structural collapse and so on. But who can say what will happen tomorrow? So, we urge the authorities concerned to look into the matter whether the miners working in the Barapukuria underground coal mine are following all safety measures or not.

Ashikujaman Syed,
Research Assistant,
Bioinformatics Research Lab,
Center for Research Innovation and Development (CRID),
syedashikujaman@yahoo.com