Mining task force carries out surprise raid

DHANBAD: The mining task force of Dhanbad carried out a night-long checking drive against illegal mining, stocking and smuggling of coal and other minerals in different parts of the district on Wednesday, officials said.

According to the officials, the task force, led by Uday Rajak, sub-divisional officer of Dhanbad and comprising Mihir Salkar, district mining officer and Diwakar Prasad Chandrika Prasad Dwivedi, district transport officer, among other offiJharkhand cers, carried out the random checking of over 60 coal transporting vehicles and seized one coal-carrying truck with insufficient documents concerning procurement of coal.

Varun Ranjan, the Dhanbad deputy commissioner, said, “The drive against the illegal mining, stocking and smuggling will continue and informed that three different teams of mining task Force carried out a drive in different areas, which began at around 11 pm on February 13 which continued till 3 am.”

Incidents of deaths of coal pickers during coal smuggling are regular features in the different mining areas of Dhanbad, especially in the Nirsa area and Baghmara area of Dhanbad.

Notably, two subsidiaries of Coal India Limited, Bharat Coaking Coal Limited (BCCL) and Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), have over 50 active coal mines in Dhanbad, and, besides the mining carried out by these companies, massive illegal mining is also carried out in adjoining areas.

INCIDENTS OF DEATHS OF COAL PICKERS DURING COAL SMUGGLING ARE REGULAR FEATURES IN THE DIFFERENT MINING AREAS OF DHANBAD