Pakistani coal miner Tariq Khan, 17, typically starts his day at 5 a.m. He earns $3 a day for dragging heavy sacks of coal.
“My father is 60 years old now. We are poor and financially things are tough. I’ve been working here for the past three years to support my father and family,” he explains, adding that previous generations in his family also worked at the coal mine.
With no other jobs available, Khan has little alternatives.
But the mines are dangerous. There’s no proper ventilation inside the mine, which is 600 meters underground, and only a few workers are equipped with safety lights.
Miners don’t wear oxygen masks, and there are no first-aid facilities in case of an emergency.
In January this year, a gas explosion killed eight workers. At the time, there were 200 miners working underground.
In 2011, almost 100 workers were killed in 30 separate accidents.
“There were about 48 people killed in a nearby mine, and the dead bodies were lying there for a week,” recalls coal miner, 40-year-old Khalid Khan Afridi.
Afridi has worked in the mine for the past two decades and has witnessed the death of many of his friends at work.
“We dug them out and we found that there was no flesh on their bodies. They’d been completely burnt,” he explained. “I worry for my life, too, as the mine is not safe.”
After the 2011 incidents, the provincial government passed a bill to allocate funds to improve the working conditions at the mines.
The government also made safety workshops mandatory for the workers, but so far nothing has been implemented.
There are around 250 coal mines that employ 60,000 workers across Baluchistan province.
On average, coal miners work there for 12 hours a day for just $5 a day.
It’s low pay, but there are few alternatives, partly as a result of the conflict between the Baloch nationalists and the Pakistan government over the share of mineral resources.
Abdul Khaliq, 62, worked inside the mines for two decades.
He’s now working as a security guard due to his bad health and spends his entire $60 monthly salary on food and medicine.
The mines are located far from the city center and patients have to be carried for hours to the nearest health facility.
Sayed Muhammad Hassan Shah is a medical technician at the nearest rural health center, but he often treats patients in place of the doctors.
“The coal mine workers usually have chest problems,” he said.
Back at the mine Tariq Khan says he wants to leave his job.
“Everyone has a dream and mine is to be free from here and to have another job where I can have time to rest,” Khan explained. “Money and education can change one’s life but I don’t have either. So I’ll work like my father until I die.”
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Balochistan coal miners overworked, underpaid
Pakistani coal miner Tariq Khan, 17, typically starts his day at 5 a.m. He earns $3 a day for dragging heavy sacks of coal.
“My father is 60 years old now. We are poor and financially things are tough. I’ve been working here for the past three years to support my father and family,” he explains, adding that previous generations in his family also worked at the coal mine.
With no other jobs available, Khan has little alternatives.
But the mines are dangerous. There’s no proper ventilation inside the mine, which is 600 meters underground, and only a few workers are equipped with safety lights.
Miners don’t wear oxygen masks, and there are no first-aid facilities in case of an emergency.
In January this year, a gas explosion killed eight workers. At the time, there were 200 miners working underground.
In 2011, almost 100 workers were killed in 30 separate accidents.
“There were about 48 people killed in a nearby mine, and the dead bodies were lying there for a week,” recalls coal miner, 40-year-old Khalid Khan Afridi.
Afridi has worked in the mine for the past two decades and has witnessed the death of many of his friends at work.
“We dug them out and we found that there was no flesh on their bodies. They’d been completely burnt,” he explained. “I worry for my life, too, as the mine is not safe.”
After the 2011 incidents, the provincial government passed a bill to allocate funds to improve the working conditions at the mines.
The government also made safety workshops mandatory for the workers, but so far nothing has been implemented.
There are around 250 coal mines that employ 60,000 workers across Baluchistan province.
On average, coal miners work there for 12 hours a day for just $5 a day.
It’s low pay, but there are few alternatives, partly as a result of the conflict between the Baloch nationalists and the Pakistan government over the share of mineral resources.
Abdul Khaliq, 62, worked inside the mines for two decades.
He’s now working as a security guard due to his bad health and spends his entire $60 monthly salary on food and medicine.
The mines are located far from the city center and patients have to be carried for hours to the nearest health facility.
Sayed Muhammad Hassan Shah is a medical technician at the nearest rural health center, but he often treats patients in place of the doctors.
“The coal mine workers usually have chest problems,” he said.
Back at the mine Tariq Khan says he wants to leave his job.
“Everyone has a dream and mine is to be free from here and to have another job where I can have time to rest,” Khan explained. “Money and education can change one’s life but I don’t have either. So I’ll work like my father until I die.”
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