RANCHI: Three women in Jharkhand's Dhanbad were buried alive after a land sunk when they were walking on a makeshift road, built for coal transportation.
The three women, who are trapped in the crater have been identified as Parla Devi (55), Thandi Devi (55) and Mandwa Devi (60), all residents of nearby Chhotki Bouwa Basti.
One of the women was caught in the subsidence first, two others who had accompanied her tried to help but were buried too.
The area has unstable old underground workings and is fire and subsidence affected. The Gondudih Khas Kusunda Colliery is operated by Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited.
Dhanbad’s Jharia has been affected by underground fire for the last 100 years leading to land subsidence claiming several lives.
Jharia coal mine is spread across an area of 450 sq km with nearly 5 lakh lives depending on the region. Fire continues to devour the underground in 67 different areas at Jharia and nearby regions. In many places, coal continues to burn at temperatures up to 700 degrees centigrade, a few meters below the earth’s surface, defying all human efforts to extinguish it.
According to BCCL officials, the incident occurred around 12 noon. The women were reportedly walking on a makeshift road, built for coal transportation, when a portion of it suddenly caved in, they said.
When asked about the delayed rescue operation, Jha informed that it took some time as the angered locals launched an attack on the colliery manager Dilip Kumar and assistant manager Rajesh Kumar. After pacifying them rescue operations began, the officer added. However, the locals alleged that the police and mine rescue teams of BCCL arrived hours later even when they were informed immediately.
“Apparently the land subsided due to the heavy rains. An outsourcing company is operating in the Gondudih project and has made a kuccha road for transporting purposes,” said a local requesting anonymity.