In a bid to curb the rise of fatal workplace accidents, All 17
gas-rich coalmines in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region have been installed with advanced automatic gas monitors,
with "teething problems" sorted out in November.
The Tiereke coalmine in Baicheng county is one of them. Five
other gas-rich coalmines in the county have also been equipped with
the similar apparatus.
This year alone, Xinjiang recorded a total of 159 cases across
the region, claiming the lives of 196 miners. These figures were
given by regional production safety officials at a conference held
by the Xinjiang Coal Mine Industry Administration Bureau and Bureau
of Xinjiang Coal Mine Safety Supervision on November 5.
In a bid to put a stop to this, the regional government invested
17 million yuan (about US$2 million) in an advanced gas monitoring
system. The system monitors gas consistencies and volumes in mines
and sends the data to the security administration office in real
time. Once the gas consistency exceeds an approved limit, the
system will automatically cut electricity supplies to prevent
sparks.
Xinjiang is rich in coal resources with forecast reserves
between 1.82 trillion and 2.19 trillion tons, or 40.5 percent of
China's total.
(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn November 17, 2005)