Saturday, July 09, 2022

PAKISTAN
Sindh orders suspension of coal exploration, mining work in two districts

Move follows death of eight miners due to flooding

Published: July 09, 2022 
A man pushes his rickshaw (tuk tuk) through a flooded road during the monsoon season in Karachi, Pakistan July 9, 2022.
Image Credit: Reuters

Karachi: After the tragic death of eight miners due to flooding caused by heavy monsoon rains, the Sindh government has issued orders to immediately halt coal exploration and mining work in two districts of the province.

The Sindh government’s Director-General of Coal Mines Development has issued the orders asking the contractors concerned to suspend coal mining and exploration work in Thatta and Jamshoro districts due to unsuitable weather.

The orders have asked the coal mining companies to adopt all the due safety precautions at the coalfields in addition to suspending the exploration and mining operations.

The provincial government warned that in case of non-compliance the mining permits would be cancelled as per the provisions of Sindh Coal Mining Concession Rules-2022.

The orders were issued on the directives of Sindh Energy Minister, Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh.

The Sindh government’s Energy Department has in the past promised to improve working conditions of the workers associated with coalfields in Thatta and Jamshoro like the facilities available to labourers associated with the Thar coal mining site in the province.

The coal miners in the two districts often work in highly risky conditions in tunnel mines where accidents during the mining operations often threaten their lives.

The Sindh Energy Minister said that a private company owned the coal mine in the Jhimpir area of Thatta where eight miners had died earlier in the week due to flash flooding after heavy rains.

He said the relevant district administration had been asked to lodge a criminal case against the loss of the precious lives of the coal miners.

Sheikh said that due penal action would be launched against the owner and contractor of the coal mine for showing negligence by them that endangered the lives of the miners.

He said that a probe committee had been formed to investigate the mining tragedy in the Jhimpir area.

The Sindh Energy Minister said the probe committee comprised the DG of Coal Mines Development, the Chief Inspector of the Mines, and representatives of the miners.

He stated that the initial reports received after the tragedy revealed that one of the deceased who had lost his life in the mining tragedy was a 12-year-old boy.

He said the deceased boy was the son of one of the minors who had survived the accident.

Sheikh said the bereaved father of the boy had said that he was present at the mine along with his son as the flooding had caused the boy to fall into the mine.

He maintained that the probe committee would determine whether the account of the accident given by the father of the deceased boy was true or else the boy had already been inside the mine when the flooding occurred as it was a case of child labour related to the coal mining work.

Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, also took cognisance of the death of a boy in the mining tragedy in Jhimpir and asked Sindh Energy Minister to conduct a probe into the incident for taking due action against those responsible if it was proven that it was a case of child labour.

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