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Quetta mine gas blast: Bodies of two miners recovered

QUETTA: Following the gas blast in a coal mine, rescuers had so far managed to bring two bodies out of the coal pit.

Relevant pieces published earlier:

Six die in Quetta mine gas explosion: Rescuers trying to save others!

i) As a result of a gas explosion at least 14 miners got trapped inside a coal mine in Sanjadi area here today.
Sources privy to NPTV, while insinuating that all the trapped miners (from Sangla, Swat, and Dir) have already expired, informed that rescuers are presently attempting to bring the miners out of the coalpit nonetheless.

It is pertinent to mention here that, like in all the industries of the country, hardly any measures are taken for the safety of miners. Hence, the coalpit gobbles up a couple of hundred laborers annually. (Published on 12th August, 2018) 

ii) Following the collapse of two coal mines due to the gas explosion this afternoon at least 23 workers died while five got trapped beneath the debris here some 45 km from Quetta. So far twelve bodies have been taken out of the mines while rescuers are endeavoring to recover the bodies and take the survivors out safely.ii) Ministry of Planning and Development has started a new initiative – Cluster Development Based Mineral Transformation Plan – to improve productivity in mines and mineral sector and enhance exports. The initiative, costing Rs62.21 million has been launched under Vision-2025 and would increase value addition and create jobs in the mineral sector. (5th of May, 2018) 

Nature has bestowed Pakistan with enormous and diversified world-class mineral resources, coal, copper, gold, building stones, industrial raw materials, gemstones, etc.

Both the public and private sectors are working to exploration and development. As per Annual Development Plan (ADP) 2018-19, the mines & mineral contribution towards GDP growth was 0.09 percent in 2017-18 while Vision 2025 and 12th Five Year Plan envisage fundamental improvements for mineral sector.

Moreover, Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) has designed a number of annual field program and projects likely minerals investigation, geological mapping, geophysical exploration, exploration and evaluation of coal, geochemical exploration of precious metals, geo-environmental & groundwater studies, exploration of iron ore, geohazard assessment & geotechnical projects, geochemical analysis and medical geology for next year.

An area of about 12800 sq. km is planned to be geologically mapped in different parts of the country. Around 200 samples will be taken in this time period while conducting this survey and geochemical analysis will be carried out.

Even though the operational funds provided in the regular budget are short to meet the project expenses, GSP aims to achieve technical targets in the upcoming financial year within the available resources.

The efforts will be concentrated towards mineral exploration and Geological mapping projects including iron ore, coal, copper, and gold in areas of Punjab and Balochistan province, while Lead-Zinc-Barite investigations will be carried out in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Sindh. There are great reserves of coal in Pakistan.

It is assumed that there are over 25 Million metric tons of coal deposits. At current times, we are getting 20 thousand metric tons of coal yearly from these mines. (16th May 2018).

iv) Due to non-existent safety measures yet another coal mine caved-in killing four miners here in the Sorange area today. Abdul Qayyum, Muhammad Anwar, Muhammad Irfan and Kashmir Khan died on the spot. Their bodies – recovered after a couple of hours of digging – were taken to the hospital of Pakistan Minerals Development Center. It is pertinent to mention that Sorange mines – that are located some 16 kilometers east of here and contain millions of tons of coal – lack basic safety measures. As a result, lots of miners lost their lives while toiling in the pits. (Published on 24th May 2017)

 

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M M Alam

M. M. Alam is a Pakistan-based working journalist since 1981. Karachi University faculty gold medalist Alam began his career four decades ago by writing for Dawn, Pakistan’s highest circulating English daily. He has worked for region’s leading publications, global aviation periodicals including Rotors (of USA) and vetted New York Times as permanent employee of daily Express Tribune. Alam regularly covers international aviation and defense-related events including Salon Du Bourget (France), Farnborough (United Kingdom), Dubai (UAE). Alam has reported thousands of events and interviewed hundreds of people in Pakistan, UAE, EU, UK and USA. Being Francophone Alam also coordinates with a number of French publications.