An underground blast at a colliery at a coal mine in Bengal’s Andal area in Paschim Bardhaman district late Tuesday afternoon, leading to subsidence in the surrounding areas has triggered panic among the residents.
The incident has led to members of more than a hundred families fleeing their cracked houses.
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At Khandra, a locality close to Bisweswari Colliery under Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), residents of the colliery quarters felt tremors at around 5 p.m.
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The walls of the colliery quarters developed vertical cracks, and the ground surface fractured in some places.
Two of the residents, China Ruz and Mamoni Bauri, protested against the alleged negligence of the underground mine authorities, blaming it for causing the subsidence.
Area officials of ECL, accompanied by the police, rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation.
Local MLA Partha Ghosh arrived at the scene soon afterward and said, “None of the mine officials responsible for the careless blast in the underground district gallery of the Bisweswari Colliery will be spared. I have already conveyed my views on the disaster to the ECL.”
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