Balochistan’s 4,500 coal mines have converted valleys of death due to a lack of safety measures as in the last ten years, around 9hundred colliers have lost their lives in various mine-collapse-related accidents.
More than 44K workers work in more than 45K coal mines in Balochistan amid a lack of modern security equipment in many coal mines.
Thousands of lives are at stake due to government negligence and the contractual system.
A collier Akhtar Mohammad held that local coal mines do not have ventilators and exhaust pipes in the wake of poisonous gas. Miners who survive accidents inside the mine fall victim to deadly diseases.
He said coal mine congestion led to Kidney injury and every other day some disease occurred and teeth also got damaged. According to the Balochistan Department of Minerals officials, Forty to fifty M tonnes of coal is extracted annually in Balochistan.
During the last ten years, around 9 hundred miners have lost their lives in 600 incidents. In 2024, 46 miners died in 22 accidents.
Chief Inspector Mines Abdul Ghani said the provincial government’s strict implementation of safety measures reduced the accident rate.
Shahid Rand, Balochistan government spokesman said hundreds of cases against coal mine owners for violating safety measures are also pending in the courts.
