Lok Sabha Question No. 1516 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-19
Subject: Fire Accidents in Coal Mines
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: SUPRIYA SADANAND SULE, DHANANJAY BHIMRAO MAHADIK, RAJEEV SHANKARRAO SATAV, HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT, P.R. SUNDARAM, JAYAKUMAR JAYAVARDHAN, VIJAYSINH MOHITE PATIL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL

## LOK SABHA Unstarred Question No. 1516 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.12.2018

## Fire Accidents in Coal Mines

## 1516.   Shrimati Supriya Sule;

Shri Dhananjay Mahadik;

Shri Satav Rajeev;

Dr. Heena Vijaykumar Gavit;

Shri P.R.Sundaram;

Dr. J. Jayavardhan;

Shri Mohite Patil Vijaysinh Shankarrao:

Will the MINISTER OF COAL be pleased to state:

- a. the number of fire accidents occurred in various coal mines in the country particularly Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu along with the loss of life and property caused during each of the last five years, company and State-wise;
- b. the reasons for repeated fire accidents in the coal mines;
- c. whether the Government has considered any investigation in this regard  and if so,  the details thereof along with the action taken by the Government against the guilty persons, company-wise till date;
- d. the funds allocated and spent for ensuring the safety and security of workers in these coal mines during the said period, company-wise along with the funds released to compensate the victim of accidents during the last three years, company-wise;
- e. the steps taken by the Government to check the recurrence of such accidents in future; and
- f. the other steps taken by the Government for improvement in the fire-resistance system of coal mines and factories particularly of Maharashtra State?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COAL (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

Reply (a) : The details of fire accidents occurred in various coal mines in the country particularly in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu along with loss of life and property caused during each of last five years (2013 to 2017), company wise and state wise are given in Annexure - I.

Reply (b):  The main reason for fire accidents in coal mines is spontaneous heating.

Reply (c) :  Investigation  done  by  various  agencies  and  actions  taken  against  the responsible persons, company-wise are as under:

BCCL: Investigation / enquiry was completed and disciplinary action have been taken against the concerned Manager, Overman and Mining Sirdar.

NCL:  The  enquiry  has  been  conducted  by  Internal  Safety  Organization  (ISO)  and  DGMS officials. The details are provided below:

|   SN | Particulars                                              | Findings                                                                | Recommendations                                                                                                                                                        | Action taken against perso ns held responsible                 |
|------|----------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|    1 | Fatal accident of Sri Md. Firo z Ansari dated 02.06.2016 | Wrong practice of using wiper motor pump w ith battery of ti pper       | (1) Framing and implementati on of SOP of all activities of o utsourcing works. (2) Conducting Safety talks for increasing awareness of safe p ractices among workmen. |  Demotion to lower post - 2 persons  Censure - 1 person      |
|    2 | Fatal accident of Sri Lalman Gupta , Dated 05.05.2018    | Bursting of ox ygen cylinder due to run over of dozer on th e cylinder. | (1) Proper housekeeping. (2) Work to be carried out und er constant supervision of a co mpetent supervisor. (3) Proper communication of work to the workmen.           |  one increment stop ped - 3 persons  Memo issued - 1 p erson |

WCL:  Inquiry  was  conducted  on  the  three  fire  incidences  occurred.  Two  officers/executives were warned to be more careful while discharging duty.

SECL: DGMS enquired into the cases of incidence independently to assess the cause thereof and suggested  precautionary  measures  to  control  the  heating.  The  affected  panel  was  immediately isolated by making isolation stoppings to control fire under the guidance of DGMS.

MCL:

| Year    | Name of Mines     | Investigations &Action Taken                                                     |
|---------|-------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2015-16 | Talcher Colliery  | Investigation made by ISO, MCL and DGMS. No disciplinary action.                 |
|         | Orient Mine No. 3 | Investigation made by ISO, MCL and DGMS. Warning Order issued against 6 persons. |
| 2017-18 | Nandira Colliery  | Investigation made by ISO, MCL and DGMS. Warning Order issued against 4 persons. |

Reply (d) Company-wise details are as under:

Eastern Coalfield Ltd. (ECL) : The details of fund allocated and expenditure are given bellow : (Rs lakh)

| Year    | Capital        | Capital     | Revenue        | Revenue     |
|---------|----------------|-------------|----------------|-------------|
|         | Fund Allocated | Expenditure | Fund Allocated | Expenditure |
| 2015-16 | 6628.00        | 4450.00     | 15983.00       | 13636.00    |
| 2016-17 | 6479.00        | 2826.30     | 15826.00       | 10220.88    |
| 2017-18 | 6605.00        | 3392.00     | 16000.00       | 13700.00    |

Central Coalfield Ltd. (CCL) : The details of fund allocated and expenditure are given bellow:

(Rs lakh)

| Year    | Capital        | Capital     | Revenue        | Revenue     |
|---------|----------------|-------------|----------------|-------------|
|         | Fund allocated | Expenditure | Fund allocated | Expenditure |
| 2015-16 | 656.74         | 500.06      | 1778.38        | 1778.00     |
| 2016-17 | 600.00         | 264.45      | 1650.00        | 1659.49     |
| 2017-18 | 1000.00        | 517.37      | 1700.00        | 1623.80     |

Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. (BCCL) : The funds spent for ensuring safety and security of workers in BCCL is as under:

| Year    |   Spent (Rs in Crore) |
|---------|-----------------------|
| 2015-16 |                 24.58 |
| 2016-17 |                 22.7  |
| 2017-18 |                 31.41 |

-  Compensation  of  Rs  639200/-  was  paid  to  the  next  of  kin  of  victim  of  Rajapur  OC accident.

Northern Coalfield Ltd. (NCL) : The funds allocated and spend on Safety in last three year is given below:

Capital Budget (Rs. In lakh)

| 2015-16   | 2015-16     | 2016-17   | 2016-17     | 2017-18   | 2017-18     |
|-----------|-------------|-----------|-------------|-----------|-------------|
| Budget    | Utilization | Budget    | Utilization | Budget    | Utilization |
| 1198      | 186         | 632       | 236         | 638       | 132         |

Revenue Budget (Rs. In lakh)

| 2015-16   | 2015-16     | 2016-17   | 2016-17     | 2017-18   | 2017-18     |
|-----------|-------------|-----------|-------------|-----------|-------------|
| Budget    | Utilization | Budget    | Utilization | Budget    | Utilization |
| 6000      | 5250.82     | 6000      | 5391.84     | 6300      | 6170.29     |

Compensation details:

|   S.No. | Project        | Date of Accident   | Name of Deceased                  | Compensation provided as per statute   |
|---------|----------------|--------------------|-----------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
|       1 | Khadia (UP)    | 02.06.2016         | Firoz Ansari, Contractor worker   | Rs. 8,67,640/-                         |
|       2 | Dudhichua (UP) | 5.5.2018           | Sri Lalman Gupta, Fitter (Cat-VI) | Rs. 4,98,800 /-                        |

Western Coalfield Ltd. (WCL): Adequate capital and revenue funds are allotted for the coal mines for ensuring the safety of the workers. The details are as below.

(in Rs. lakh)

| Year                  |   Capital allotted |   fund Capital expenditure |   Revenue allotted |   fund Revenue expenditure |
|-----------------------|--------------------|----------------------------|--------------------|----------------------------|
| 2015-16               |               1200 |                    1110.26 |               9000 |                   10575.9  |
| 2016-17               |                800 |                     242.11 |               9000 |                    9245.67 |
| 2017-18               |                500 |                     232.5  |               8500 |                    8927.2  |
| 2018-19, upto Oct.'18 |                400 |                     198.11 |               8000 |                    4433.14 |

South Eastern Coalfield Ltd. (SECL): The fund allocated and spent under capital & revenue head for ensuring safety and security of workers in SECL during the last three years and current year are given below:

(Rs. Lakh)

| YEAR    | Capital        | Capital               | Revenue        | Revenue                 |
|---------|----------------|-----------------------|----------------|-------------------------|
|         | Fund allocated | Expenditure           | Fund allocated | Expenditure             |
| 2015-16 | 1346.60        | 350.00                | 18000.00       | 17609.00                |
| 2016-17 | 4227.00        | 3265.072              | 16500.00       | 16006.00                |
| 2017-18 | 2751.00        | 1234.92               | 17000.00       | 16500.00                |
| 2018-19 | 900.00         | 223.00 (till Nov.'18) | 17200.00       | 14300.00 (till Nov.'18) |

Mahanadi Coalfield Ltd. (MCL):

(Rs. Lakh)

| YEAR    | Capital        | Capital     | Revenue        | Revenue     |
|---------|----------------|-------------|----------------|-------------|
|         | Fund allocated | Expenditure | Fund allocated | Expenditure |
| 2015-16 | 715.32         | 679.55      | 4900.00        | 4900.00     |
| 2016-17 | 941.00         | 870.00      | 5145.00        | 5145.00     |
| 2017-18 | 748.98         | 715.26      | 5700.00        | 5700.00     |

Singareni Colliery company Ltd. (SCCL):

(Rs. Lakh)

|                          | Capital A/c.   | Capital A/c.       | Revenue A/c.   | Revenue A/c.       |
|--------------------------|----------------|--------------------|----------------|--------------------|
| Year                     | Budget         | Actual Expenditure | Budget         | Actual Expenditure |
| 2015-16                  | 1111           | 1214               | 71871          | 72910              |
| 2016-17                  | 1069           | 145                | 71872          | 77743              |
| 2017-18                  | 1365           | 1133               | 79670          | 81870              |
| 2018-19 (upto Oct. 2018) | 961            | 266                | 55202          | 49914              |

Reply (e): The following steps are taken to check the recurrence of such incidents in future:

-  Apparatus for detecting of fire/symptom of fire are provided in all underground mines.
-  Risk assessment based Safety Management Plans (SMPs) prepared and implemented.
-  Preparation and implementation of Principal Hazards Management Plans (PHMPs) along with Trigger Action Response Plan (TARP).
-  Site-specific Risk Assessment based Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) formulated and  complied.
-  Conducting  safety audit time to time to assess safety status of mine  including precautionary measures taken for mine fire and spontaneous heating.
-  Emergency  Action  Plan  of  each  mine  has  been  prepared  and  implemented,  it  is  being reviewed  from  time  to  time.  Mock  Rehearsals  are  being  conducted  for  examining  the preparedness / efficacy of Mine-wise Emergency Action Plan.

Reply  (f): Based  on  the  experiences,  the  developmental  initiatives  undertaken  by  DGMS are amendment of safety laws, issue of guidelines for safer operations in identified thrust areas through circulars and issue of technical instructions to DGMS officers for their guidance.

********

## Annexure-I

## Details of accidents in coal mines due to Fire during the years 2013-2017

| Company   | Date of fire accident / incidence                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | Mine                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          | State                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         | Type of fire                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  | Loss of life& properties                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
|-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| ECL       | No fire accident.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | No fire accident.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | No fire accident.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | No fire accident.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | No fire accident.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| BCCL      | 19.08.2015                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    | Rajapur OCP                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | Jharkhand                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     | One shovel ope rator got burn i njury while han dling fiery coal seam                                                                                                                                                                                                                         | 1 fatality                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| CCL       | No fire accident.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | No fire accident.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | No fire accident.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | No fire accident.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | No fire accident.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| NCL       | 02.06.2016                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    | Khadia OCP                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    | UP                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            | Burn injury by diesel fumes - Equipment fire                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  | 1 fatality                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| NCL       | 05.05.2018                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    | Dudhichua OCP                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 | MP                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            | Bursting of O 2 cylinder                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      | 1 fatality                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| WCL       | 13/09/2014                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    | DRC 6, 7 &8                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | Maharashtra                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | UG Mine fire                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  | No fatality involved. Only negligible loss of properties.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| WCL       | 12/07/2015                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    | Silewara                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      | Maharashtra                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | UG Mine Fire                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  | No fatality involved. Only negligible loss of properties.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| WCL       | 16/07/2015                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    | Ballarpur 3&4 pits                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            | Maharashtra                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | UG Mine Fire                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  | No fatality involved. Only negligible loss of properties.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| SECL      | No fire accident. However, there are two cases of spontaneous heating in two UG mines as coal by nature itself is susceptible to spontaneous heating due to its intrinsic nature. One mine is in Chhattisgarh in the year 2013 and other in MP in 2015. All the cases were effectively dealt. | No fire accident. However, there are two cases of spontaneous heating in two UG mines as coal by nature itself is susceptible to spontaneous heating due to its intrinsic nature. One mine is in Chhattisgarh in the year 2013 and other in MP in 2015. All the cases were effectively dealt. | No fire accident. However, there are two cases of spontaneous heating in two UG mines as coal by nature itself is susceptible to spontaneous heating due to its intrinsic nature. One mine is in Chhattisgarh in the year 2013 and other in MP in 2015. All the cases were effectively dealt. | No fire accident. However, there are two cases of spontaneous heating in two UG mines as coal by nature itself is susceptible to spontaneous heating due to its intrinsic nature. One mine is in Chhattisgarh in the year 2013 and other in MP in 2015. All the cases were effectively dealt. | No fire accident. However, there are two cases of spontaneous heating in two UG mines as coal by nature itself is susceptible to spontaneous heating due to its intrinsic nature. One mine is in Chhattisgarh in the year 2013 and other in MP in 2015. All the cases were effectively dealt. |
| MCL       | No fire accident. However, there are three cases of spontaneous heating in three different UG mines in Odisha State. Two cases were in 2015-16 and one case was in 2017-18. All the cases were effectively dealt.                                                                             | No fire accident. However, there are three cases of spontaneous heating in three different UG mines in Odisha State. Two cases were in 2015-16 and one case was in 2017-18. All the cases were effectively dealt.                                                                             | No fire accident. However, there are three cases of spontaneous heating in three different UG mines in Odisha State. Two cases were in 2015-16 and one case was in 2017-18. All the cases were effectively dealt.                                                                             | No fire accident. However, there are three cases of spontaneous heating in three different UG mines in Odisha State. Two cases were in 2015-16 and one case was in 2017-18. All the cases were effectively dealt.                                                                             | No fire accident. However, there are three cases of spontaneous heating in three different UG mines in Odisha State. Two cases were in 2015-16 and one case was in 2017-18. All the cases were effectively dealt.                                                                             |
| SCCL      | No fire accident.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | No fire accident.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | No fire accident.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | No fire accident.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | No fire accident.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |