Coal Mine

Over 30 cops injured amid protest against coal mine in Chhattisgarh

More than 30 police personnel were injured when a group of villagers protesting against the expansion of an open-cast coal mine clashed with them and hurled stones in Chhattisgarh's Surguja district, officials said. Some villagers were also injured in the face-off which occurred on Wednesday. Residents of Parsodi Kala village in the Bishrampur area have been opposing the extension of the Amera coal project of South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), a subsidiary of Coal India, despite the land acquisition process being completed long back, the officials said. The SECL claimed in a statement that the villagers were instigated by a few persons who have vested interests and indulge in illegal activities like coal pilferage. After pacifying the villagers, mining activities resumed in the mine on Wednesday evening, the officials said. On learning about the protest, district officials along with police reached the site, which falls under the jurisdiction of Lakhanpur police station, ...

Centre proposes bill to replace Coal Mines PF Act, boost worker welfare

The Ministry of Coal said the proposed bill takes into account recent developments in labour codes, digitalisation, social security, wages, and working conditions

One dead, more feared trapped as part of coal mine collapses in Jharkhand

One person was killed and some others were feared trapped after a portion of a coal mine collapsed during illegal mining in Jharkhand's Ramgarh district, police said on Saturday. The incident occurred in the early hours at Karma area in the district. An administrative team has been dispatched for relief and rescue operation, they said. "One body has been recovered so far and rescue operation is underway, as more people are suspected to be trapped," Kuju Police Outpost in-charge Ashutosh Kumar Singh told PTI. He said that some villagers were involved in illegal mining of coal at the site. Ramgarh Deputy Commissioner (DC) Faiz Aq Ahmed Mumtaz told PTI: We received information about the incident in the morning. An administrative team has been sent to the spot to investigate the matter.

Abandoned coal pits turn into fish farms, provide livelihood in Jharkhand

In the coal-mining heartland of Jharkhand, abandoned water-filled pits left behind by mining companies are being transformed into profitable fish farms, providing livelihoods for displaced communities and addressing protein shortages in rural areas. Around 1,741 such abandoned coal pits exist across Jharkhand, with many dating back to the 1980s. While coal mining companies are legally mandated to undertake scientific closure of these pits, implementation has been poor due to expensive costs involved. The Kuju Fishermen Cooperative Society, operating from the 22-acre Ara coal pit in Ramgarh district, has emerged as a success story in this transformation. Shashikant Mahto, now Secretary of Kuju Fishermen Cooperative Society, began the initiative in 2010 without proper infrastructure. "I began fish farming in the water-filled abandoned Ara coal pit without any cage. I had randomly put fish seed and harvested a good crop," Mahto said. His first catch, a 15-kg Katla fish, won him the f

Coal India to restart 32 mines to meet power needs as clean energy stalls

India's coal giant revives old mines and plans new projects as renewable capacity falls short of surging consumption

Two dead, one injured as part of coal mine wall collapses in Chhattisgarh

Two persons were killed, and another sustained injuries after a portion of the boundary wall of a coal mine collapsed on them in Chhattisgarh's Korba district on Tuesday, police said. The incident took place in the wee hours of the day at South Eastern Coalfields Limited's (SECL) Gevra open-cast coal mine under the Hardi Bazar police station limits, an official said. As per preliminary information, the trio had allegedly entered the mine to steal coal when a portion of the boundary wall of the Dipka and Gevra mines suddenly collapsed, he said. The official said Vishal Yadav (18) and Dhan Singh Kanwar (24) got trapped under the debris of coal and died, while Sahil Dhanwar sustained injuries. Teams of mine management and police reached the spot and launched the rescue efforts, he said. The injured man was shifted to the district hospital, and two bodies were retrieved, the official said, adding that further probe is underway. The SECL's public relations officer, Sanish Chandra, sai

Coal imports remains flat at 201 million tonnes in Apr-Dec period

India's coal imports remained flat at 201.30 million tonnes (MT) in the April-December period of the ongoing financial year. The country's coal import was 201.52 MT in the year-ago period, according to the data compiled by mjunction services, a leading name in the e-auction space. Coal import in December declined to 19.28 MT over 23.35 MT in the corresponding month of the previous fiscal year. "Imports in December 2024 stood around 19.28 million tonnes as against 23.35 MT imported in December 2023," it said. During April-December 2024, non-coking coal imports were at 128.85 MT, lower than 133.46 MT imported during the same period in the previous year. Coking coal imports were at 40.64 MT during April-December 2024, down from 42.81 MT reported for April-December 2023. "The high stock position in the domestic market, coupled with lower-than-expected demand, has led to a drop in import volumes. We expect the demand scenario to remain unchanged in the coming weeks," mjunction MD & CEO

Rescue efforts continue in Assam as survival chances fade for miners

The chances of survival of the five coal miners trapped inside an abandoned quarry in Assam's Dima Hasao district continue to diminish as dewatering operations entered the eighth day on Monday, officials said. Nine workers were trapped inside the mine in Umrangshu, around 250 km from Guwahati, on January 6 with four bodies recovered so far. The mine is being dewatered using specialised pumping machines brought in by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Coal India. The water level in the quarry has dropped significantly, but it remains unclear when it will be "completely cleared or when rescue and search operations inside the quarry will resume," an official at the site said. Rescue operations are being carried out jointly by the navy, army, Assam Rifles, NDRF, SDRF and the district administration since the first day. 'The chances of survival of the remaining miners appear to be waning as they remain trapped for the eighth day but the rescue operations will continue', he

News Highlights: SKM advances meeting with Punjab's protesting farmers to Jan 13

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Assam mining tragedy: Search, rescue operations in Dima Hasao enter day 7

Rescue operations are being carried out by multiple agencies, including NDRF, SDRF, army and navy personnel, with drones deployed for mapping of the area

Assam mining tragedy: Body of another labourer recovered from coal quarry

The body of another worker, who was trapped inside a coal mine in Assam's Dima Hasao district, was recovered on Saturday from the quarry during rescue operations, an official said. Two bodies have so far been recovered with the first one brought out from the mine on Wednesday, he said. The two deceased labourers were among nine workers who were trapped inside the mine in Umrangsu on Monday after a sudden gush of water flooded the quarry. "The rescue operations resumed this morning and one more body was recovered as the search for trapped miners entered its sixth day. The body of one labourer, hailing from Nepal, had already been recovered," the official said. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the rescue operations have been continuing with "unwavering resolve", and said the identity of the deceased has been ascertained. "The deceased has been identified as 27-year-old Ligen Magar, a resident of village number 1 of Kalamati in Dima Hasao," the official said. Magar's bo

12 miners trapped after explosion in Pakistan's coal mine, rescue ongoing

At least 12 miners were trapped in Pakistan on Thursday after an explosion caused a coal mine collapse in the southwestern province of Balochistan. The mishap occurred in the Sanjdi area outside the capital city of Quetta. Chief Mines Officer Abdul Ghani Baloch said that a gas explosion caused a coal mine in the Sanjdi area to collapse from the inside, the Dawn newspaper reported. Efforts are being made to pull all the miners out alive, he said. In an official statement, Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind said rescue teams had arrived at the site. There are reports of twelve workers being trapped in the mine, Rind added. Balochistan Minister for Mining and Minerals Mir Shoaib Noshirwani ordered Chief Mines Officer Baloch to send two more teams to participate in rescue operations. If prevailing mining procedures were violated, legal action should be taken against the mine owner, Noshirwani warned, ordering rescuers to expedite efforts to extract the trapped miners.

Sonar equipment aids ongoing rescue in Assam mine amid rising water

Inspector Roshan Kumar Singh, team Commander of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), confirmed that despite searching the vertical area and using heavy pumps to remove water, the water level has not decreased at the mining accident site. The operation, supported by Sonar equipment, is ongoing as water continues to flow into the mine, hindering progress.Speaking to ANI, Singh said, "We have searched the vertical area but haven't been able to find anything. We are proceeding further with taking out water from the mine... The water level has only increased and not decreased. This is a joint operation of the Navy, NDRF, and Indian Army."He also added, "The Indian Navy team, Indian army and NDRF have jointly started the search & rescue operation with the help of sonar equipment for the third day at the coal mine site."Earlier today, rescue operations were underway at the coal mining site, where HPS Kandari, commandant of the 1st Battalion of the National Disaster Response ...

NDRF begins water removal at Assam's coal mine to rescue trapped workers

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Wednesday started removing water at the Dima Hasao coal mine to rescue 8 people who have been trapped since Monday.

Divers recover body of one of 9 trapped workers from coal mine in Assam

The body of one of the nine workers trapped inside a coal mine in Assam's Dima Hasao district was recovered by army divers on Wednesday, the third day of the rescue operations, officials said. The chances of the survival of the eight others appear grim, though a team of navy, army, NDRF and SDRF personnel intensified their efforts to rescue the trapped miners, the officials said. The divers located the body of the worker, identified as Ganga Bahadur Srestho from Udaypur district of Nepal, 85 feet below the surface early in the morning. His family members have been contacted and the body has been sent for inquest and postmortem, Special Director General of Police Harmeet Singh said. A Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) was sent inside the quarry in the morning which spotted the body, following which the divers went in to bring it out, said Singh, who is camping at the site to supervise operations. A united effort is being made by the navy, army, NDRF, SDRF, ONGC, Coal India and distri

ACC, NLC, JSW Energy & others bag five coal mines in 10th round of auction

NLC India Ltd, ACC Ltd, and JSW Energy Utkal Ltd are among the five companies that have bagged five mines on the first day of the tenth round of commercial coal mine auction, according to an official statement issued on Thursday. While ACC Ltd bagged a coal mine in Madhya Pradesh, NLC India Ltd and JSW Energy Utkal Ltd won one block each in Odisha. Two other companies that won coal blocks are Mineware Advisors Pvt Ltd and Shreeji Nuravi Coal Mining and Trading Pvt Ltd. A total of nine blocks been put on sale in the tenth round of auction. "On the first day, five coal mines were put up for auction," the statement issued by the coal ministry said. One of the five coal mines is fully explored while four are partially explored. The total geological reserves for these five coal mines are 2,630.77 million tonnes. Cumulative Peak Rated Capacity for these blocks is 12 MTPA. The government launched the auction of coal mines for commercial mining under the tenth round on June 21. "After

Env clearance to Adani's Chhattisgarh coal project despite NGT's rejection

The Centre has again approved a coal mining project operated by an Adani Group company in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district, just six months after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) revoked its environmental clearance, directing the environment ministry to reexamine the case from the stage of the public hearing. There was no reaction available from the Adani Group till the filing of this report. The Rs 7,465-crore coal mine project, which will affect 14 villages in the Gare Palma area of Tamnar tehsil, belongs to the Maharashtra State Power Generation Company (Mahagenco), with Gare Palma II Collieries Pvt. Ltd., an Adani Group company, as the mine developer and operator. The environmental clearance has been granted despite studies highlighting serious concerns about the project's impact on the socio-economic and health conditions of villagers, hydrology, and carrying capacity, suggest government records. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh criticised the Centre for granting clearance again

Iran believes workers trapped in coal mine explosion dead, toll rises to 49

Iran said Tuesday it believes the remaining workers trapped by an explosion at a coal mine in the country's east have died, bringing the death toll in the disaster to at least 49. A provincial emergency official, Mohammad Ali Akhoundi, gave the death toll in a report carried by Iranian state television from the mine in Tabas. Figures for the numbers of miners inside the mine at the time have fluctuated since the methane gas leak Saturday sparked an explosion.

Methane leak-triggered explosion in Iran coal mine kills 32: Report

A methane leak sparked an explosion at a coal mine in eastern Iran, killing at least 19 people and injuring another 17, Iranian state television reported Sunday. The report said the deaths happened at a coal mine in Tabas, some 540 kilometers (335 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran. Authorities were sending emergency personnel to the area after the blast late Saturday, it said. Around 70 people had been working there at the time of the blast. Oil-producing Iran is also rich in a variety of minerals. Iran annually consumes some 3.5 million tons of coal but only extracts about 1.8 million tons from its mines per year. The rest is imported, often consumed in the country's steel mills. This is not the first disaster to strike Iran's mining industry. In 2013, 11 workers were killed in two separate mining incidents. In 2009, 20 workers were killed in several incidents. In 2017, a coal mine explosion killed at least 42 people. Lax safety standards and inadequate emergency services i

Over 100 industry reps attend meet before 10th round of coal mine auction

More than 100 representatives from the industry participated in a pre-bid meeting for the tenth round of commercial coal mine auctions, the government said on Friday. The government has put on sale 67 coal blocks in the 10th round of auction that was launched last month. "Ministry of Coal conducted the pre-bid meeting for 10th round of commercial coal mine auctions under chairmanship of Additional Secretary & Nominated Authority M Nagaraju, which was launched on June 21, 2024 offering 67 coal mines," an official statement said. A detailed presentation on the auction process was made by the transaction advisor, SBI Capital Markets Ltd, while another was given by the technical advisor, CMPDIL, about the mines being offered under this tranche on a revenue-sharing basis. The bid due date of this tranche of auction is August 27. Commercial coal block auction was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2020. Since then, in the last nine rounds, the Ministry of Coal has ...