Jharkhand chief secretary-led team visits gas leak zone in Dhanbad

Dhanbad (Jharkhand), Dec 13 (PTI) A high-level team, led by Jharkhand Chief Secretary Avinash Kumar, on Saturday visited localities affected by gas emission from underground mines in Bharat Coking Coal Ltd's colliery areas in Dhanbad.

Kumar, who was accompanied by acting Director General of Police (DGP) Tadasha Mishra, BCCL Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) Manoj Agarwal and Dhanbad Deputy Commissioner (DC) Aditya Ranjan, visited Putki Balihari colliery area and interacted with the affected people and officials concerned.

The chief secretary said he visited the affected localities on the directive of Chief Minister Hemant Soren to assess the situation of gas leakage.

"The situation is concerning. Since the incident has been caused naturally, it is bit challenging to get complete control over it. However, scientific study is being conducted keeping in mind all factors," he told reporters.

He said the state government is trying to resolve the issue.

"All stakeholders, including the state and central governments, BCCL management, district administration and local MLA, MP are jointly working on solutions for safety of residents in the affected area," he said.

The chief secretary also spoke to the affected residents in Kenduadih and listened to their problems.

Kumar also visited Belgadia township, built by the coal company to relocate people from the affected area. He held a meeting with officials of BCCL and district administration and asked them to increase facilities at Belagadia.

Several people have been affected by emission of poisonous carbon monoxide gas from the mines over the last 12 days. Two women have reported died and more than 40 residents have fallen ill due to gas leakage.

The BCCL management has set up a temporary shelter camp for them with food and lodging arrangements. PTI COR SAN SAN ACD