Probe ordered into 'poisonous gas leak' from underground mines in Dhanbad; people to shift

Dhanbad, Dec 4 (PTI) Jharkhand's Dhanbad district administration on Thursday ordered a probe into the incident of a “poisonous gas leak” from underground mines, which also prompted the Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) to shift around 1000 residents to safer locations, officials said.

A woman allegedly died, while 12 people fell sick after “carbon monoxide” leaked from such mines in different places of Kenduadih Basti on Wednesday, they said.

The exact cause of the woman's death, however, is yet to be ascertained, and it could only be confirmed after receiving the postmortem report, the officials said.

Dhanbad Deputy Commissioner (DC) Aditya Ranjan ordered an investigation into the “poisonous gas leak” from underground mines and also directed the coal company to shift residents from the affected area to a safe place immediately.

“Based on the probe report, action will be taken against responsible persons,” the DC said.

The DC held an emergency meeting with the BCCL, Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS), health department, disaster management department and the Jharia Rehabilitation Authority (JRDA) officials.

He held discussions over the reasons for leakage, measures taken to check them and the status of shifting of affected residents from the sites.

Soon after the incident, the Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) started eviction of people from the “danger zones”, they said.

The area is a declared ‘danger zone’ due to underground mine fires.

The company also pasted notices on the walls of houses in the locality, asking people to vacate at the earliest, an official said.

The DC directed the BCCL Putki Balihari Colliery Area authorities to set up a tent city and shift the affected residents of the Basti there immediately, besides arranging for all basic facilities, including food and blankets for them.

BCCL's Putki-Balihati Colliery Area GM G C Saha told reporters that three ambulances have been kept on standby in the basti to deal with any emergency situation.

“The company is making arrangements to shift the residents to safer places. For the safety of life and property, we have already requested them to leave the dangerous zone,” Saha said.

He also said that all leakage points of gas emission have now been plugged.

The BCCL management swung into action on Wednesday evening, after over a dozen residents of Rajput Basti reportedly complained of vomiting, headache and breathlessness-related complications.

According to a 2019 survey, around 946 families reside in close to 595 under ground mine fire and subsidence-prone areas of the Jharia coalfield, officials said. PTI CORR SAN RBT SAN NN