No one can deny the important role played by the coal -miners in a country. The coal extracted from the mines are used in a various way by us.
But with the passage of time, one can also find that the coal-miners’ lives are too in danger since it is not easy to extract the coal and not a single month pass by we hear about the death of coal miners via suffocating from death or inhaling methane gas etc. The death of 22 coal miners in Quetta, in the Marwar area was a big tragedy for the families of the coal miners. It has not been many day that in the same Month some six coal-miners in Balochistan died because of the coal mines and this displays the lack of facilities for the protection of the coal-miners.
It is evident that dying in a coal mine is of the worst deaths imaginable since they will be under the debris of the coal mine and it is the colleague or co-workers of the coal-miner who know this dangerous death in a coal-mine.
In Pakistan, the coal miners are only facilitated to have small lanterns and go in the mines but in other developed countries using lantern is banned and the investors and facilitators are urged to provide necessary lightning equipment.
Besides this, they are facilated with oxygen masks and powerful torches and body protective gears. Consequently, such facilities should be also mandatory for Pakistani coal-miners as well. Destructions in the coal-mining sector in Pakistan are becoming more common and recurrent and there is a dire need for more Labour -protections since they deserve more than this because of the coal ,they produce, to keep our houses warm in winter and many more.
ZEESHAN NASIR,
Kech, May 7.