Caving in of land in Talcher: Coal Minister Piyush Goyal orders high level probe

Talcher: Union Coal Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday directed a high level probe into the land caving incident inside a house near Talcher town police station yesterday.

Taking to twitter, Goyal informed that he has ordered a fact finding enquiry into the incident by a team of experts from Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS), Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI) Limited and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited.

Shri @dpradhanbjp conveyed his concerns about reports of sudden caving in of land in Talcher, Odisha affecting some residential houses.

Ordered a fact finding enquiry by team of experts from DGMS, CMPDIL & MCL on the incident urgently. Interests of local community paramount.

— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) December 6, 2018

Taking urgent note of the incident, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had urged Goyal’s intervention into the incident through a letter yesterday.

‘There have been reports of land caving in residential areas in Talcher causing panic among local residents. It may be noted that it is a coal bearing area and the incident has caused some misgivings about the mining operations in the region,’ Pradhan had pointed out urging the union minister’s intervention into the incident.

Meanwhile, palpable tension continues to prevail in the area for second day today as police picked up seven local residents while staging protests alleging the MCL and district administration’s negligence over the issue.

On Wednesday evening, a portion of land suddenly caved in affecting the house of one Santilata Bai and the vicinity near the town police station. The hole developed into a 4 –feet crater within few hours triggering panic among the locals.

Locals alleged that authorities of the MCL had not filled the now defunct Champapasi underground coal mines with sand due to which the crater had developed.

Following the incident, residents of the town took to streets and called for a city-wide shutdown protesting mismanagement in mining operations.

Earlier, similar incidents were reported near Sai Temple, Hataota, Nabamishra Colony and Handidhuan areas near the town.