Dhanbad: A 12-year-old boy was killed, at least four people were injured and several families lost their homes when a large tract of land caved in at Sijua Teen Pattiya in Dhanbad’s coal belt early on Tuesday.A loud rumble jolted residents awake around 5 am before the ground collapsed, swallowing or severely damaging more than half a dozen houses in the locality under Jogta police station limits. Several people were trapped inside their homes as they slept.Residents launched the first rescue effort, pulling victims from the debris and rushing them to a private nursing home at Nichitpur. Babu (12) died during treatment. Among the injured were Bala Kumar, Aarti Kumari, Pooja Kumari, Chand Devi and Vikram Kumar.Residents, including a large number of women, blocked the Katras-Sijua road at Sakaldeo Singh Chowk, demanding compensation and immediate relocation of families living in the subsidence-prone zone. They said the blockade would continue until the administration gave a firm rehabilitation assurance.Arjun Bhuiya, a resident, said he was filling water when the ground began sinking. Some people had stepped out, but others were still asleep. “A woman and four children were trapped in one house. Residents entered the damaged structure and pulled them out,” he said.Locals alleged that prolonged underground mining and illegal coal excavation had destabilised the area. They also accused Bharat Coking Coal Ltd and the administration of responding late despite repeated cave-ins across the coalfield.Baghmara BJP MLA Shatrughan Mahto, who visited the site, blamed the state govt and BCCL for failing to relocate vulnerable families.Deputy commissioner Aditya Ranjan said JRDA teams had reached the spot and relief work was launched with BCCL’s assistance. “The deceased child’s family would receive Rs 2.5 lakh and housing benefits under the rehabilitation scheme,” he said, adding that the shifting of residents from fire- and subsidence-hit areas was being expedited.Tuesday’s tragedy is the latest in a series of subsidence incidents reported in Dhanbad this year. Three people were killed at Tandabadi on March 31, while 10 houses collapsed and four people were injured there on April 23. The Dhanbad-Ranchi arterial road sank by around 2 ft on April 15. Fresh cave-ins were subsequently reported at Tandabadi in June, Keshalpur in July and Kamini Kalyan Colony in Aug, where dozens of homes developed cracks.
