Two contractual labourers died during the exploration of coal bed methane gas by a multinational oil & gas giant beside a small river about 10 km from Durgapur town this morning.

The deceased were identified as Akash Baidyakar (25) and Arup Chowdhury (26). They were from Jambon village in Kanksa PS area and Malda town respectively. Three injured labourers were shifted to a private critical care unit, the police said. The labourers and the locals complained that the poisonous gas, emanating from the pit, caused the deaths.

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Nearly a hundred labourers were deployed at the Pit No. 242 of Essar Oil & Gas at Purulia village here. The company produces 9 lakh standard cubic metres of coal bed methane (CBM) from its pits, scattered mainly in Laudoha, Kanksa and Durgapur blocks for the last 20 years. CBM is a natural by-product of the coalification process emanating from the virgin coal seams and is used as the CNG (compressed natural gas) fuel.

“The CBM operators drill well into coal seams where groundwater is pumped out of the wells,” said an expert, adding: “The removal of water reduces the pressure in the coal seam allowing methane to be released.”

During this process at the affected Parulia pit, a substantial volume of water mixed with the gas suddenly gushed in from the underground. “We suspect it’s a case of drowning death due to sudden flushing of water,” said Monalisa Banerjee, joint general manager of the exploration company after the mishap. He added: “We’ll however hold further investigation into this.”