A 30 feet deep and 10 feet wide crater was spotted in a locked house in the underground fire affecting Lilori Pathra locality of Jharia about 11 km from Dhanbad district headquarters on Sunday night causing panic among around two thousand local residents.

The residents protested against the crater filling operation launched by the BCCL on Monday morning.

The crater developed at the house of Surendra Pandey, who had shifted to a newly constructed house at Dhanbad town around 20 km from Lilori Pathra last week.

Pandey informed officials of Kujama Colliery area following which two staff members of the BCCL visited the site and took stock of the situation assuring the local residents against any immediate danger.

The crater found at the Surender Pandey’s residence at Liloripathra in Jharia Gautam Dey

Senior officials of BCCL and District Administration, led by Jharia Circle officer, Parmeshwar Kushwaha; Office in Charge of Jharia police station, Pankaj Jha; Additional General Manager of Lodna Area o BCCL, Dhananjay Akhare; Area Planning officer , RK Sharma and project officer of Kujama Colliery, AK Kundu who reached at the site somehow controlled the situation and convinced them of early rehabilitation.

“Despite the fact that our area is subsidence prone and minor incidents of subsidence had taken place several times earlier, no serious effort has been initiated to shift us and only around 141 families out of around 440 living in area have been allotted quarters at Belgarhia area of Jharia,” said Triloki Prasad.

“Majority of 141 families of Liloripathra and Ghanudih who have been allotted quarters in Belgaria have also not shifted there as some of family members at Liloripathra have not been allotted quarters in Belgarhia” said another local resident Narendra Mandal.

A.K. Kundu, project officer of Kujama Colliery said, “We have launched the filling up operation of the crater today for which we had to dismantle two adjoining houses but all affected persons have been provided houses at other places.”