The Court of Inquiry has said that the failure
of the management and the safety enforcement machinery was responsible
for the accident of the Bagdigi Colliery which claimed 29 lives.
The Court of Inquiry under the Chairmanship of the sitting Judge
of the High Court of Jharkhand Justice Gurusharan Sharma was set
up on March 1, 2001 by the Labour Ministry to fix responsibility
for the causes leading to the accident. The accident occurred
on 2nd February 2001 in the underground mine of Bagdigi
Colliery, Dhanbad, due to inrush of water from the adjoining waterlog
workings of Jairampur Colliery after breaking inter-mine barrier.
The Court of Inquiry has suggested various measures to improve
safety standards in order to prevent inundation in future. The
Ministry of Labour is examining the report of the Court of Inquiry.
The Court of Inquiry examined 69 witnesses and
scrutinized 22 written statements on affidavit. Shri Ravindra
Nath, Professor of Mining Engineering, Banaras Hindu University,
Varanasi and Shri Kamlesh Sahai, President CCL Colliery Karamchari
Sangh, Barkakhana were appointed as assessors to the Court of
Inquiry.
