Develop abandoned coal mines to get new ones, says Jharkhand

The Jharkhand government felt that the move would also help check the activities of illegal coal miners who did business by exploiting residual coal deposits at the abandoned mines.

The government issued this diktat to the three state-owned coal companies- Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) and the Central Coalfields Limited (CCL).

The redevelopment was also expected to stop frequent accidents in the abandoned mines cause by the illegal coal mining activities and underground cuttings done by a section of unauthorized coal cutters.

These had led to subsidence and caused deaths of a considerable number of people every year.

There were a large number of abandoned mines, and sources here said most were under CCL.

Many of the mines were abandoned prior to 1986.

The state's deputy chief minister Sudhir Mahto recently held a meeting with the chief executives of the three coal companies all of which operated in different areas of Jharkhand and issued this diktat.

He also asked the coal companies to take care of the rural communities which were affected by acute water logging in some of the areas with abandoned mines, which had caused major health problems.

He told the heads of the coal companies that if they failed to do look after the welfare of the rural communities.

Unless they did this, their proposals pending with the state's mines department and forest departments would not be cleared.

The minister told the media later that if the coal companies built public utilities and social infrastructure like parks, stadiums and playgrounds in the areas under the old and abandoned mines, a larger number of tourists from withing and from outside the state were expected to visit these locations and tourist spots.

According to CCL director for technical operations, R K Saha, CCL had already filled up 16 mines and developed plantations over ten such abandoned mines.

CCL, he said, had surrendered six mines to the Jharkhand government.

Referring to the company's social responsibility programme, Saha said that CCL had organized about 300 health camps in its command areas and extended medical facilities to over 50,000 people living in and around the command areas of the company.

In parallel, BCCL authorities said the company had planned to arrange visits to tourists inside the pits of some selected collieries for interested visitors and also people eager to be educated about the type and intensity of the efforts involved on the part of coal miners engaged in raising coal from underground coal seams.