Two workers were killed in a mine in Singareni Collieries are at  in Godhavari Khani Karimnagar district of Andhra Pradesh. The mishap occurred when the cable of a man-riding trolley broke down.As a result the trolley fell down killing two miners and injuring 15 others.

This mine accident illustrates how mine safety is sacrificed at the altar of reforms in a public sector mining industry. Singareni Colleries is a major source of employment in the backward North Telangana region as it is spread over for four districts of Adilabad, Karimnagar, Warangal and Khammam district .There are huge unexploited deposits of coal in the entire Godavari belt in the Telangana region. This shows the potential for expansion of Singareni Colleries mines. The Singareni Colleries is jointly owned by AndhraPradesh state government and government of India. The government which is supposed to be a model employer is neglecting the vital mine safety in a frantic attempt to increase productivity and reduce the cost of production to boost profits. The workers are treated as non living inputs primarily meant for increasing production. How did this accident happen? The man rider works on a hydraulic system. The management neglected the maintenance of this hydraulic system. As a result, the trolleys failed to stop immediately after they were separated halfway. The censors failed to give any indication of the mistake in the man rider. Normally, the censors notice the mechanical defect in the trolleys of the man rider or in the entire hydraulic system. This would prevent the accidents as corrective measures can be taken. The warning signals could not be received due to lack of maintenance. The hydraulic system is controlled by a unit called Governor. This mechanically controls the man rider. The Governor is also manually supervised by three fitters in three shifts a day. But, one fitter was promoted few months ago. And new person was not appointed. There was no fitter supervising the system Governor when the accident took place. The management in a bid to maximize the profits is resorting to widespread cost cutting exercises. As a part of cost cutting exercise, the management is downsizing the workforce. The total employment in the Singareni colleries was reduced by half in the last two decades.

Apart from downsizing, the management in this mine along with several mines is implementing production in seven shifts. There are no holidays. Even weekly holidays are also removed. The workers are engaged in production on holidays too by giving incentives.  Thus the machinery continues to work through out the year uninterruptedly. Thus there is no time for maintenance works. The over usage of machinery without necessary servicing is resulting in defective functioning.  This precisely happened in this mine resulting in the death of two workers besides several workers receiving fatal injuries.

The workers are under severe stress to meet production targets. The middle management is also under severe stress to ensure production targets. As a result the trolleys on the man rider always run in over capacity. This is also one reason for many workers receiving injuries. Few years ago, the mines used to run in three shifts and closed for a day in a week. This used to ensure periodic repairs, maintenance works in the machinery. All this are given a go-bye as boosting production is only the mission today.

The Chairman of Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) in a letter dated March 2, 2009,  said, “an element of complacency seems to have crept in amongst most of the workmen, supervisors and executives with respect to safety status in mines.” The Chief general manager (safety) in a circular issued on April 27, 2009  said ‘of late the safety review committees are neither meeting as per schedule nor functioning effectively’ reports The Times of India.

The safety and welfare of thousands of workers receive lesser priority as profits are put before people even in a public sector mine. One can easily imagine the fate of workers in private mines. At a time mining industry is on a fast track growth, the safety and welfare of workers who ensure this growth should get highest priority.

The education and health of workers are also neglected. The schools, hospitals are not properly maintained. As a student of first batch of Singareni Colleries High School in Mandamarry in Adilabad district, I have a personal understanding of the situation. There is a sharp decline in standards of schools and hospitals run by the Singareni Colleries management. All this is happening not accidentally. It is part of the ongoing reforms in Singareni Colleries where expenditure cuts are a management drive. The children of senior management are now going to corporate private schools. The family members of the officers are now going to corporate hospitals. Thus the management lost interest in maintaining the standard of educational institutions and hospital run by the company. As long as officers of Singareni colleries were availing the benefits of these services, standards were maintained.  I still remember, son of an ordinary worker and the General Manager of the company were my class mates. This is no longer situation.

The management is also resorting to indiscriminate open cast mining. There is no balance between under ground and opencast mining .The management is only interested in booking high profits now without bothering about long term sustainability of these mines.

The Singareni Colleries mines are responsible for severe environmental damage. The Supreme Court has upheld the polluter pay principle. But, the public sector mines do not bother to implement this principle upheld by highest judiciary. The livelihood of thousands of farmers is eroded due to open cast mines. The water resources are polluted. Villages are up routed. The air pollution has reached dangerous levels in the surroundings of open cast mines.

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