Talcher: Residents of Talcher are at their wits’ end after witnessing repeated incidents of the ground caving in randomly at several places, ostensibly due to rampant mining in the area.
Locals apprehend that such frequent ground depressions might endanger their lives and property. They say they are now living in an atmosphere of fear.
As recently as Saturday, a large crater was formed after the ground caved in around 500 m from the Handidhua underground mines. The incident spread panic in the area with residents worrying that their houses might be affected next.
Despite such repeated occurrences, authorities of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) and the district administration are being accused of not taking any steps to assuage the fears of residents.
“It all began when a small portion on the ground caved in resulting in the formation of a crater Friday night. Later, it widened and formed into a large crater with a radius of 5-7 m and a depth of five feet. The formation of the crater resulted in cracks in a water supply line passing along that way following which all the water flowed into it,” said a local.
After reports surfaced, panicked residents rushed to the site to get a glimpse of the crater. On being informed, senior mines authorities visiting Talcher coalfields, sub-collector Shyambhakta Mishra, SDPO Kailash Parida and MLA Braja Kishore Pradhan rushed to the spot and tried to dispel the fears of residents. A water supply tanker was called to the site to gauge the depth of the crater. However, all of the water discharged from the water tanker was sucked in by the crater, rendering the exercise futile.
Former Zilla Parishad member Rajkishore Sahoo, Bighneshwar Sahu, Banshidhar Nayak and Gyanaranjan Sahu alleged that MCL coalmines are located near the site and such craters have formed as the mines authorities are not filling up the mines after extracting coal. Later, a fence was erected around the crater for the safety of people and animals.
They alleged that ground depressions have become frequent occurrences in the last few years. However, neither the mines authorities nor the district administration are taking any measures to address the problem.
Similar ground depressions have earlier occurred resulting in formation of craters. In the last three years, a crater was formed near the house of Ganeshwar Pradhan at Gopalpur Sahi in Dera, near Gayatri Public School at the underground coalmines in Handidhuan and near the Sai temple in the town.
The first such incident was witnessed in 1981 when the ground near the Hatatota Girls’ High School caved in leading to formation of a pond-sized crater. Locals have alleged that over 20 such incidents have occurred in the last 30 years.
Social activists have filed a case with National Human Rights Commission accusing MCL of overlooking safety of residents.
MCL’s Talcher area general manager AK Nandi refuted the charges and said a probe has been ordered into the incident. PNN