Islamabad, April 9 – The death of nine workers in a recent marble mine collapse incident in the Mardan area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan highlights systemic neglect. Mining is one of the most vulnerable, dangerous, and neglected sectors in Pakistan due to the lack of safety regulations and insufficient protocols, resulting in miners getting trapped underground or being killed in mine collapse incidents and explosions, a report states.
"The Mardan region in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has now witnessed yet another unfortunate instance of systemic neglect, where nine workers lost their lives in a marble mine collapse last week. As an industry, the mining world cannot usually be completely free of accidents, even with the help of modern technology and thoroughly exercised safety protocols. Therefore, the acute lack of funding required for safety technology, as well as the implementation of existing legislation, significantly increases the likelihood of mining accidents in Pakistan," an editorial in Pakistan's leading daily, The Express Tribune, mentioned.
The mining sector in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is to be protected under two pieces of legislation that call for increased mine safety, inspection, and regulation. However, the implementation of these laws has not yielded the desired results.
Mine workers, who often come from poor backgrounds, are frequently untrained, unsupported, and underpaid. Pakistani authorities must provide quality training, exceptional equipment, access to emergency services, and information about safety standards to mine workers, The Express Tribune opined.
In December last year, two miners were killed after a landslide hit a coal mine in the Sorranj area on the outskirts of Quetta in Pakistan. Rafiullah, Chief Mines Inspector of Balochistan, said that the workers were in a mine when a mass of earth collapsed, burying them under the rubble, as reported by the Pakistani daily, Dawn.
In October, four coal miners were killed in two separate incidents in the Duki and Chamalang areas of Balochistan, Pakistan, due to the presence of methane gas. According to the police, the victims, identified as Afghan nationals, were working in coal mines in Duki and Chamalang when the accidents occurred, Dawn reported.