​​​​​​​4 miners die in SCCL coal mine in Telangana

A portion of the roof of an underground coal mine collapsed in Srirampur, Mancherial district Telangana yesterday killing four miners. The mine belongs to the Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL).

The roof collapsed when the workers were working on the it last morning. Rescue teams of SCCL were called in from Ramagundam and Mandamarri. After four hours of work, the rescue teams found the four workers dead. The deceased have been indentified as B. Laxmaiah, 60; V Krishna Reddy, 57; G. Satyanarayanaraju, 32; and R. Chandrasekhar, 32.

On learning of the mishap activists of Centre for Trade Unions (CITU), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) reached the spot and demanded an ex-gratia payment of Rs 1 crore to each of the families of the dead workers. Union leaders claimed that 10 miners have lost their lives in four separate accidents in the SCCL coal mines this year and have appealed to the government to take stringent action against SCCL for safety violations.

Later in the day, SCCL Chairperson and Managing Director N Sridhar expressed ‘shock and profound grief’ over the death of the miners. He said that a probe has been ordered in the incident. He said that gratuity and other benefits amounting to Rs 70 lakh to Rs 1 crore would be disbursed to the bereaved families at the earliest.