SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Sept 30: A woman completely sank on earth in a major subsidence incident in the fire affected Rajpoot Basti of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) PB Colliery Area under Kenduadih police station on Thursday.
The woman has been identified as Asha Devi. She was admitted to the Central Hospital of BCCL after being rescued by the basti residents. Officials informed that one of her hands has broken and she also has received a head injury.
Anand Singh, son of Asha Devi jumped in the hole when he saw his mother falling. Hearing the commotion, other residents of the basti reached there and rescued the woman and her son with rope and ladder.
Binod Oraon, officer-in-charge at Kenduadih police station, said that the incident occurred in the morning. The woman was working outside her house when all of a sudden the surface subsided. A huge bowl-shaped 15-to 20 foot deep hole formed and she along with a big neem tree sank in it.
People of the basti informed that due to continuous rain since Wednesday night, five subsidence incidents have occurred there. Rajesh Singh who owns a poultry farm told that his farm too sank in one such subsidence. He claimed that 300 of his hens died in the incident.
Over 500 families are living in the Rajpoot Basti. The land belongs to BCCL. Due to it being a fire zone, this basti has been declared a dangerous area. The BCCL management has served notice to residents to shift to a safe place several times in the past. A high-level team of PMO which assessed Jharia’s fire-affected area last week had also visited Rajpoot Basti and directed the management to shift them on a priority basis.
After getting the information, PB Area General Manager, PK Mishra reached the basti and requested the residents to shift to safe quarters of BCCL. However, the residents did not allow the BCCL management to fill up the hole demanding proper quarters and compensation.
They said that they would move from the Basti only after BCCL gives them land, job and compensation. “BCCL offers the quarters left out by retired employees. Those are in dilapidated condition no family can live in them,” said a resident.
