Coal Minister Shibu Shoren waits for God to rescue trapped miners - 54 dead

Yesterday I was watching criminal Shibu Soren's interview on TV,
and in that interview he says " I am hoping god will save these workers" !

Instead of launching a large well co-ordinated rescue effort the
administration did a hotch potch job because there was no rescue
equipment and our criminal ministers sit and pray to imagined
entitites and objects.

The inefficient rescue team and the irresponsible mining ministers
are the ones responsible
for the death of these workers.

Shibu Soren Murdabad !

54 Dhanbad miners dead

It is one of the biggest mining tragedies in India; all the 54 miners trapped in the Dhanbaad mine have been confirmed dead. But rescue teams have been able to retrieve only 21 bodies yet.

Over thirty six hours have passed since the mining tragedy in Dhanbad, but the rescue teams haven’t been able to take out all the bodies of the miners trapped. All the men have been confirmed dead, the mishap occurred on Wednesday night when miners employed by the State-run Bharat Coking Coal Limited were working deep underground.

According to eyewitness reports, when workers were blasting for coal at a depth of 450 feet, there was a massive explosion due to leakage of methane gas from the ground. The blast sealed off the main shaft of the mine, effecting burying the miners alive.

So powerful was the blast, that three miners present in the main shaft were actually thrown out. But despite the magnitude of the tragedy, there was no rescue operation in sight till the wee hours of Thursday morning; the reason being lack of rescue equipment or even proper maps of the mine.

But it seems that no matter how high the death toll, lessons have not been learnt from the past. In 2003, 563 lives were lost in mining accidents; in 2004, that figure shot up to 599. Though the figure dipped slightly to 340 in 2005, the yearly deaths caused by mining accidents is alarmingly high. In this case, no one detected the presence of the explosive gas before mining was carried out.

With the latest tragedy, it seems that this year would see a record number of mining related deaths. Though Chief Minister Arjun munda and Coal Minster Shibu Soren have arrived at the site and announced the usual compensation packages, their minds perhaps would be more occupied with the power politics being played out in Jharkhand. Compensation of Rs 3 lakh for the victims has been announced.