About one-tenth of accidents in the mining activity in the country are taking place due to unstable overburden dumps, Deputy Director General (South Central Zone) Malay Tikedar has said and stressed the need for higher importance to safety in mining at a time when the role of private sector is increasing in the mining sector.
Speaking at the inaugural session of a week-long virtual (online) faculty training on “Stabilisation and Strengthening of Steep Slope Overburden Dumps in Opencast Mines — Problems & Solutions” organised by the Mining Engineering Department of Mallareddy Engineering College here on Monday, Mr. Tikedar asked the engineers participating in the programme, from different parts of the country, to find out solutions to accidents due to sloping overburden dumps.
Increased safety in the mining activity would not only increase in the production but would ensure better safety to miners, Mr. Tikedar said.
Director (Operations) of Singareni Collieries Company Ltd S. Chandrasekhar explained the practices in Singareni in managing the overburden slopes and dumps. He stated that overburden slopes and dumps are formed during the quarrying in opencast mines.
Mr. Chandrasekhar said Singareni was the first mining company in the country to use LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) for accurate information on managing the overburden slopes and dumps. Besides, they were using minex e-modules on the strengthening and stabilising the overburden slopes and also using computer mapping on the excavation work in mining.
Experts in the mining sector from selected organisations and mining colleges such as SCCL, CIA Global Venture, MidWest Granite, IITISM Dhanbad, NIT Rourkela, NIT Suratkal, JNTU(H), Osmania University and a few other colleges participated in the online event.