Blastings in OCP-I, III led to Vakeelpalli mine mishap

Every day, blasting usually takes place in opencast-I and III at around 3.30 pm to excavate coal

Peddapalli: Blasting in opencast-I and III is said to be the reason for the roof cave-in incident at Vakeelpalli (9 Incline) coal mine on Thursday afternoon. An overman, Rapolu Naveen, died in the accident.

Every day, blasting usually takes place in opencast-I and III at around 3.30 pm to excavate coal. As usual, officials took up blasting on Thursday. The intensity of blasting is such that it will have an impact on Vakeelpalli underground mine since it is located very close to the opencast mines, a senior Singareni officer said.

Trade union leaders have also supported the argument. Union leaders said that it was a usual practice to run first shift from 7 am to 3 pm. Instead of that, mining authorities were running the first shift from 9 am to 5 pm.

Naveen and other first shift workers were on duty when blasting took place in opencast mines. Since the blasting spots were located close to the spot, the roof in the underground mine caved in, a union leader said.

Water storage in the first seam located above the third seam, where the mishap took place, could be another reason for the accident. Coal became loose due to prolonged storage of water in the upper level, the union leaders said. The accident may not have occurred if stagnant water was cleared on a regular basis, they said and alleged that the SCCL management, which has coal production as the top priority, was not bothered about the safety of workers.

Local MLA Korukanti Chander, Singareni Director S Chandrasekhar, TBGKS General Secretary Miryala Reddy, Ramagundam-II area General Manager Suresh, INTUC Secretary-General B Janak Prasad, AITUC President Y Gattiah, BMS Vice-President Yadagiri Sattaiah and others consoled the family members of Naveen.

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