Udaipur, India’s largest and first underground mining competition, 51st All India Mines Rescue Competition concluded at Hindustan Zinc’s Rajpura Dariba Complex under the aegis of the Directorate General of Mines & Safety (DGMS). During the 5-days competition from 14th-18th November 2022, first time ever, there were over 26 teams who participated from 18 different mining companies across India.

Honourable Director General, DGMS - Shri Prabhat Kumar graced the event as a Chief Guest.Also, present were CEO, Hindustan Zinc – Arun Misra, DDG North Western Zone, Udaipur- R.T Mandekar, Director of Mines Safety Western Zone, Nagpur-B. P. Singh, Dariba Khaan Majdoor Sangh General Secretary- K. S. Shaktawat, Head CoE Mining HZL-Praveen Sharma, IBU CEO, Rajpura Dariba Complex, HZL – Vinod Jangir and other dignitaries.

During the ceremony, Shri Prabhat Kumar said “Prioritizing Safety inside & outside mines is one of the most important parameters for the development of the country. Strengthening the safety framework for mine owners and operators is our core vision at DGMS. Every year,DGMS celebrates Safety Week where different companies travel to their peer companies and exchange learnings revolving around safety. The National Safety Award is given by the Government of India, which is a very prestigious award, and it is given to encourage those who do excellent work in mines safety. Platforms such as All India Mine Rescue Competition provides an opportunity to different companies to come together, exchange Best Practices, ideas and help each other to enhance safety at operations by setting benchmark. The organiser of the 51st AIMRC, Hindustan Zinc Limited and all participating companies i.e. Coal India, Tata Steel, MOIL, IMFA’s commitment to safety culture was observed during the competition which speaks volumes about their alertness & focus towards safety & welfare of all their employees.”

Speaking about the competition, Mr. Arun Misra, CEO, Hindustan Zinc, said, “The 51st All India Mines Rescue Competition was an excellent opportunity for everyone to learn and develop new rescue skills and receive comprehensive training. The collaboration among all teams and their members to ensure safety was truly heartening to observe. Such events are imperative for the industry to come together, remain agile and benchmark best practices. Hindustan Zinc was proud to host the largest-ever underground mine rescue competition with the highest participation from the industry and we were glad to see the enthusiastic teams demonstrating their mine rescue skills.”

The participating teams were ranked based on their overall performance. The first women engineer to be trained in rescue, Akansha Kumari - Mine Engineer from Central Coalfields Limited was also recognized during the ceremony. The competition had 18 companies competing which were Bharat Coking Coal Limited, Central Coalfields Limited, Eastern Coalfields Limited, Mahanadi Coalfields Limited, Steel Authority of India Limited, Singareni Collieries Company Limited, South Eastern Coalfields Limited, Sunflag Iron & Steel Co, Reliance Cement Company Private Limited (Sial Gogri), Tata Steel Ltd., Western Coalfields Limited, Ambuja Cement, Hindustan Copper Limited, Hutti Gold Mines Limited, Hindustan Zinc Limited, Manganese Ore India Limited, Uranium Corporation of India Limited, and Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys.

The competition had winners in two categories of Coal and Metal Sector. In the Metal sector, the 1st position was won by Hindustan Zinc Limited Team A, 2 nd position by Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys and 3 rd position by Manganese Ore India. In the coal sector, the 1st position was won by Singareni Collieries Company Limited Team A, 2nd position by Western Coalfields Limited Team A, 3rd position by Central Coalfields Limited Team A, 4th position by Mahanadi Coalfields Limited Team B, 5th position by Singareni Collieries Company Limited Team B and 6th position by Bharat Coking Coal Limited Team A.

Hindustan Zinc, the organizers of largest & first ever underground All India Mining Rescue Competition continues to work concertedly towards augmenting the safety environment at its mines and sites. Safety & well-being of employees & business partners have always vital for the company. With the Commitment to zero-harm culture and continual efforts to boost safety of
underground operations through technological initiatives and regular trainings, Hindustan Zinc has taken various measures and has introduced path breaking initiatives at its operations. 

The company has established India’s first underground first-aid station with ambulance to enhance safety measures in the underground mine. This first-of-its-kind below-the-ground rescue and aid system is deployed 24x7 at the underground station with
a dedicated rescue staff.