*Jharia may turn into a ghost town soon *20 Jan 2008, 1947 hrs IST,TNN DHANBAD: The threat of underground fire in Jharia leading to land cave-in has already affected railways in the region. In March 2007, the 22-km Dhanbad-Jharia-Pathardih track was dismantled while the railway station complex of Jharia is "abandoned" since 2005.
In fact, it's a matter of time before India's richest coal reserve at Jharia becomes history. The 100-year-old town with coal reserves to the tune of Rs 60,000 crore will be abandoned, as the raging subterranean fire has claimed several lives and damaged property worth crores of rupees. In 1996, the Union government formed a committee to probe the underground fire. On finding that the fire could not be doused, it recommended shifting the entire Jharia town and 23 surrounding villages to two resettlement colonies. Under the mammoth exercise, about 46,000 houses are to be set up at Belguria Bazar, 10 km from Jharia, in the first phase, and another 34,000 at Belliyapur in the second phase at an estimated cost of Rs 20,000 crore.Butwhile the Jharkhand government is keen on shifting the people to the new resettlement colonies, coal trade unions are opposing it. Janata Mazdoor Sangh general secretary Kunti Singh, also MLA from Jharia, said, "At no cost would we allow eviction of people from Jharia." On the other hand, Jharia Development Authority chairman B K Tripathi says, "People living in highly sensitive zones will be given preference during rehabilitation. The resettlement colony with 3,300 flats would be ready at Belguria by April, this year." The new colonies will have schools, hospitals and markets. Belguria is a state government pilot project for rehabilitation of Jharia oustees. Coal India Limited chairman Partho S Bhattacharya says the Rs 10,000 crore Jharia Action Plan would be launched this year. According to him, the relief package is one of the best for the four lakh people of Jharia. The package has been accepted by the Jharkhand government and it would cover all residents of Jharia. The fund for rehabilitation would be raised by Coal India and also through consumers who would have to pay enhanced royalty on coal (Rs 3.50 per tonne to Rs 10 per tonne). Says Bhattacharya, "The idea is to save the people. They are more important for Coal India than excavating prime coking coal from Jharia mines." timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2715918,prtpage-1.cms -- Jharkhand News [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jharkhand Online Network http://www.jharkhand.org.uk --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Explore http://Jharkhand.org.in 4 Live Chat, i-Messaging, Music Video, News and much more..... Don't assume everyone is passionate about your cause. In other words, before hitting the Reply button, be sure you are replying to the correct party. If you are replying to a group email, does your reply need to go to everyone, or is it intended for the sender only? Don't pass on chain-letter-type messages, advertisements, copied materials from another website, links of commercial websites of any kind, virus alerts, petitions, give-away and dire warnings etc. Posting Norms - http://groups.google.com/group/Jharkhand/web/posting-norms Note: Incase of failure to comply with Posting Norms, your posting right will be ceased and you might get removed from this group. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
