Lok Sabha Question No. 793 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-06-26
Subject: Illegal Mining of Coal
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: Santokh Singh Chaudhary

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL

LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 793 TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.06.2019

## Illegal Mining of Coal

## 793. SHRI SANTOKH SINGH CHAUDHARY:

Will the Minister of COAL be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  received  any  complaints  regarding  illegal  coal  mining  in various parts of the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the action taken by the Government in this regard;
- (c) the number of workers who have died in coal mines in the last three years, State-wise;
- (d) whether the Government has taken steps to improve the working conditions of the coal workers; and
- (e) if so, the impact of the steps taken on the health of the workers and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS, COAL AND MINES (SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

- (a)       Complaints are received by the Government regarding illegal mining of the coal.  As per  the  complaints  received  through  Coal  Mine  Surveillance  and  Management  System (CMSMS), which is a web based portal along with 'Khanan Prahari' mobile app for detection, monitoring  and  recording of  action  taken  on  illegal  coal  mining,  the  total  number  of  109 complaints till 31st May, 2019 have been generated. The details of which are as follows:-
- (b)            Coal  Mine  Surveillance  and  Management  System(CMSMS)  along  with  'Khanan Prahari'  mobile  application  have  been  developed  by  Central  Mine  Planning  and  Design Institute (CMPDI) in association with Bhaskaracharya Institute For Space Applications and Geo-Informatics (BISAG), Gandhinagar to detect, monitor and record action taken on illegal

| Total Number of Complaint Generated               | 109      | 109          |
|---------------------------------------------------|----------|--------------|
|                                                   | CIL Area | Non-ClL Area |
| Number of complaint generated                     | 65       | 44           |
| Complaint verified                                | 64       | 12           |
| Complaint found true                              | 19       | 12           |
| Complaint found false/repeated after verification | 45       | 9            |
| Complaint yet to be verified                      | 1        | 32           |

mining cases. This system enables any citizen to report  an illegal mining incident through 'Khanan  Prahari'  mobile  app,  which  is  uploaded  directly  to  CMSMS  portal.  Reports  are automatically sent to the designated Nodal Officers, who take action in a time bound manner and record the action taken on the CMSMS portal.

(c)        The number of workers, who  have died in different coal mines of Coal India Limited (CIL) & its subsidiaries and the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) in the last three years, State-wise are given below:

|      |             | State     | State   | State   | State        | State       | State   | State      | State   |
|------|-------------|-----------|---------|---------|--------------|-------------|---------|------------|---------|
| Year | West Bengal | Jharkhand | MP      | UP      | Chhattisgarh | Maharashtra | Odisha  | Telen gana | Total   |
| 2016 | 8           | 33        | 10      | 1       | 2            | 5           | 2       | 12         | 73      |
| 2017 | 9           | 8         | 8       | 0       | 6            | 1           | 5       | 12         | 49      |
| 2018 | 2           | 10        | 3       | 2       | 13           | 5           | 8       | 7          | 50      |

(d) Several  steps  have  been  taken  by  the  Government  to  improve  the  working conditions of coal workers by complying with the provisions of statute in this regard.

(e)         Such improvements do result in better Health Index of coal workers.  Although any impact assessment on this account has not been conducted.

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