With 61 killed in 2017, mine safety a major cause of concern: Data

Even as the country pools in all possible resources for the rescue operation of workers stuck in a coal mine in Meghalaya, data shared in Parliament shows mine safety has been a cause for concern for a long time. Based on data available for 2017, at least 61 workers lost their lives in coal mines alone.

Overall, 129 lives were lost in fatal accidents across mines — involving coal, metal and oil in 2017. State-run Coal India, the country’s largest miner, reported 37 fatalities in 34 incidents in 2017, against 56 deaths in 2016, according to the company’s sustainability report.

In terms of states, Rajasthan saw the highest number of deaths, with 23 workers killed in metal mines in 2017 and Telangana seeing the loss of 13 lives, the highest for coal mines in the year. There is, however, a word of caution for most data reported for industrial deaths, with experts saying the issue is often under-reported, which remains a concern.