A demand for speedy steps to check the spread of subterranean fire was made in the Lok Sabha today, victims promised a suitable rehabilitation package for the affected.
NEW DELHI: A demand for speedy steps to check the spread of subterranean fire and subsidence in coal mine areas of West Bengal and Jharkhand was made in the Lok
Sabha today, with the government assuring members of a suitable rehabilitation package for the affected.
Raising the issue, CPI(M) MP Basudeb Acharia said the raging fire beneath the earth had caused several incidents of soil subsidence, leading to large number of deaths and houses caving in at Raniganj, Jharia and Asansol. Congress MP Adhir Chowdhury said that besides affecting a large number of local people, the fire has also posed grave
threat to the Delhi-Kolkata railway line, National Highway 2 and a major pipeline of the Indian Oil Corporation.
Accusing the government of not taking any action to meet the "disastrous situation", Acharia said while the West Bengal government had cleared the latest Master Plan for
rehabilitation and other measures, Jharkhand was yet to do so.
He urged the Centre to take up the issue with the Jharkhand government expeditiously so that the plan could be implemented forthwith.
Replying to the members' concerns, Coal Minister Santosh Bagrodia said the Master Plan involved construction of over 1.30 lakh houses where the people of the affected areas were to be resettled. Announcing that the plan would be implemented with the
help of state governments and local bodies, he urged members to motivate people to leave their present hearths and homes and move to new areas.
Evacuation and resettlement of the people was "the only choice" and there was no shortage of funds for the purpose, the Minister said.
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