RANCHI: In a tragic incident, a massive fire which broke out a month ago in an illegal mine at Rajrappa in Ramgarh, claimed life of a labourer who had fallen into it while attempting to extinguish the fire on Tuesday night.
According to eyewitnesses, the deceased, Ravindra Mahto, was deputed to extinguish the fire by putting fly ash into the openings of the illegal mine. While he was taking stock of the situation, he fell into the fire as the ground caved in.
The eyewitnesses informed that the people tried hard to rescue him, but the fire was so intense that they could not save him.
Villagers alleged that it has been more than a month since the fire was reported in this illegal mine, but no concrete action was taken to extinguish the fire.
“The Central Coalfields Limited management also did not take it seriously, due to which the accident took place. No safety arrangements were made for those who have been roped in to extinguish the fire,” said a local Gandhi Mahto.
The incident took place at Bhjungdih near Bhairavi River under Rajrappa Police Station and the deceased has been identified as Ravindra Mahto of Khokha village, he added.
Local police and CCL Rajrappa General Manager Kalyanji Prasad also went to the spot after the incident, but they had to face strong opposition from the local people.
Looking at the seriousness of the matter, Ramgarh Deputy Commissioner Chandan Kumar, Ramgarh SP Ajay Kumar, Ramgarh MLA Mamta Devi went to the spot to console the family members, assuring them in writing to provide compensation as per government provisions.
Asserting the death of a labourer in the illegal mine fire, Deputy Commissioner Chandan Kumar informed that the incident took place due to the subsiding of the dump on which the labourer was standing on.
“The contractual worker was taking stock of the situation for executing the extinguishing work the next day, during which, the dump of the flay ash which is being put into the openings of the mine, subsided and he was gutted into fire,” said the Deputy Commissioner.
A search operation led by the NDRF was conducted last night, but the rescue team indicated that there is little chance of recovering the body, he added.
The Deputy Commissioner informed that all compensation as per the provisions of the state government will be given to him.
The family members of the deceased have been demanding Rs 1 crore as compensation and a government job to his nearest kin.
CCL General Manager of Rajrappa area, Kalyanji Prasad, said that they are making all efforts to douse the fire.
“Although the burning mine is not part of CCL’s operations, we are fully cooperating with the administration to prevent the fire from spreading to the densely populated Bhuchungdih village,” said the Kalyanji Prasad.
Interestingly, the mine has nearly 30 openings and when they are trying to close one opening by putting fly ash into it, the mine opens at some other point with flares comming out of it, and hence, has become difficult to extinguish the fire.