RANCHI: After a delay of three days, a joint team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Mines Rescue Wing of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) has finally launched a rescue operation to locate workers allegedly trapped inside a closed underground mine in Block-2, Baghmara, Dhanbad, since 22 July.
The operation involves a 35-member NDRF team and 15 personnel from the BCCL rescue wing. While the NDRF conducted an initial survey of the area on Thursday morning, active rescue work commenced in the evening after receiving clearance from the district administration. The efforts continued until 11:30 PM and resumed again on Friday at 11:30 AM.
Senior officials including Block-2 General Manager G.C. Saha, NDRF Assistant Commandant Santosh Kumar, Inspector Ravishankar, Circle Officer, and the Officer-in-Charge of Baghmara Police Station, Ajit Kumar, are overseeing the operation.
According to Ajit Kumar, the operation was initiated following demands from local Member of Parliament Chandra Prakash Choudhary, who identified three suspected locations where individuals may be trapped. Rescue work has begun at the first site and will continue at the remaining two.
The incident reportedly took place on Tuesday, when the roof of a closed underground mine collapsed during illegal mining activity. Several workers, believed to be hired by a coal theft syndicate, are feared to be trapped under the debris. The collapse occurred near the Jamunia River at Kesargarha, under the jurisdiction of Baghmara Police Station, where at least nine people are suspected to be buried.
Locals claimed that around 15 workers were inside the mine at the time of the collapse, which occurred when carbonaceous rock—supported only by weak pillars—gave way with a loud crash.
Although BCCL authorities and the Dhanbad police initially dismissed the reports as rumours, Giridih MP Chandra Prakash Choudhary and Jamshedpur West MLA Saryu Roy visited the site and insisted that multiple individuals were trapped. The MP staged a sit-in protest at Baghmara Police Station and submitted a formal complaint demanding immediate rescue efforts.
The protest was called off only after Baghmara SDPO Purushotam Singh assured the leaders that a rescue operation would be launched without further delay.