Two people were killed in the Dhanbad district of Jharkhand recently due to leakage of toxic carbon monoxide gas in a local coal mine. Photo: Vikas Choudhary/CSE
Mining

Hell’s Kitchen: Toxic gas leak at Dhanbad district coal mine kills two

Jharia town in the district is famous for the underground fires that have been burning in its coal mines for over 100 years

Vikas Choudhary

Two people were killed and 20 others complained of nausea and headache when toxic carbon monoxide leaked in the Putki Balihari Colliery Area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) in Dhanbad’s Kenduadih recently.

Experts noted that CO levels in the area are around 30 times higher than the permissible limit.

Affected families have rejected proposals to relocate them to other sites.

The authorities had proposed to relocate the families affected by the toxic gas leak to sites at Belgadia or Karmatand. But the affected families have rejected the proposal.

The coal mines of Dhanbad are famous for their underground fires that have been burning for over a century.

Dhanbad is located on the Chota Nagpur Plateau of eastern India, just south of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It is rich in mineral deposits including coal. The town of Jharia in the district is famous as the underground fires in its coal mines have been burning for over a century.