Mine accidents may have declined in the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) but death stalks the miners in the form of heart ailments. As many as 32 miners have died of heart diseases so far this year, 11 of them in the mines itself, possibly due to the pressures involved in their tough job in underground as well as open cast mines.
It is evidently the working conditions in the mines which resulted in about 15 cases of heart attacks being reported every month in the area hospital, according to a source in the hospital. Inhalation of polluted air in the mines is also known to be the root cause of ailments like asthma and tuberculosis, the source added on condition of anonymity.
Telangana Boggu Gani Karmika Sangham leader K. Mallaiah said it was work-related stress, of producing more coal, which is responsible for the increased incidence. “The management should implement voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for middle-aged miners and simultaneously recruit youngsters to avoid such problems,” he demanded.
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The BJP Singareni Protection Committee chairman, S. Kumar, accused the management of the coal mining giant of forcing the miners to work like machines with just 62,000 miners and employees forced to realise a target of producing 54 million tonnes of coal every year against the 1.16 lakh workforce a decade back expected to produce just 20 million tonnes of coal per annum.
The Singareni management, however, claims that the periodicity of the periodical medical examinations (PME) has been reduced from five years to three years to enable the miners to keep check on their health. “Not all miners take the PME or consume medicines as directed,” a source pointed out to absolve the management of any guilt in this regard.
The source also pointed out that the management was planning to conduct frequent medical camps and health awareness programmes on the heart ailments and blood pressure for the benefit of miners.”The SCCL will take good care of its employees and workers,” the source observed.
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