The data, which was reported in The Indian Express today, included figures from accidents sustained at mines run by state-owned Coal India, Neyveli Lignite Corporation and Singareni Collieries.
Over the past four years, the figures tally up as 399 accidents leading to 322 deaths, according to the country’s Coal Ministry.
This is in stark contrast US figures, which show the American fatality rate has hovered at around 0.13 per day for the last five years.
The findings have reopened a recent wound in India’s damaged mining safety record, at a time when the industry is still reeling from the death of 15 miners in Meghalaya, just two weeks ago.
The event thrust safety issues at Indian mines into the spotlight once again.
Public sector mine work represents one of the most hazardous careers in India.
The main cause of accidents is roof and side collapses, while mishaps during surface transport by heavy machinery in opencast mines are other reasons.
The Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act was enacted in 1973 and took over private sector mines because of their abysmal safety record at the time.
Despite this, the situation remains extremely volatile for workers who, as well as being more at risk of injury and death, also face poor payouts in the event of accidents occurring.
Further compounding the issue is the lack of investment into coal mines, which has been cited as the major reason for such a high number of casualties.
However, it has emerged that Coal India alone was sitting on cash reserves of around 45,000 crore rupees ($US81.6 billion), as of March 31.
For the 399 accidents that took place between 2008 and 2011, action has been initiated against 687 individuals.
The Coal Ministry also noted the number has gone down slightly over the past seven years, from 96 to 76 fatal accidents and from 1106 to 484 serious accidents.
It translates into a fatality rate of 0.21, down from 0.36 about five years ago.
Despite the grim statistics, a government official told The Indian Express today: “With the introduction of mechanisation, personal exposure to risks has considerably reduced and the fatality rate and serious injuries have fallen.”
