A safety audit for 418 coal mines was ordered in the month of December 2016. The decision was taken in the wake of one of the worst open cast mine disasters at Eastern Coalfields Limited’s Rajmahal mine, which killed at least 18 people.
Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal said, ‘We have also decided to carry out a detailed investigation on the accident. A mine safety audit of all the mines will also be undertaken.’ He said that the audit would be carried out by DG Mining Safety on a priority basis, based on the size of the mines. Goyal said that initially, 58 large mines of the country would be covered where annual composite overburden production is between one to five million cubic metres.
Inputs may be taken from external experts like the Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research and others, the minister said. Safety actions like anti-collision system for dumpers, geo-technical cells in Coal India mines for slope stability and gas monitoring system would be taken.