Rich tributes were paid to 375 miners who met their watery grave at Chasnala colliery on this day way back in 1975.
The deafening sound of siren broke the eerie calm at around 1.35pm and hundreds of heads bowed to pay homage to the departed souls. The pain of being separated from their near and dear ones was writ large on the faces of women who lost their husbands and children who lost their parents in the worst-ever mine accident of the country.
Family members of the miners who died in the accident paid homage by offering puja at the Shaheed Smarak built in their memory. General manager J K Bhowmik led the team of colliery officials in laying the wreaths.
CITU leader S K Bakshi along with trade union leaders, mining staff and workers followed suit.
At 1.35pm on December 27, 1975, there was a blast in the joint horizon of pits 1 and 2 in the deep mines of Chasnala colliery that damaged the barrier separating the mine from the water body lying just above the pit. Nearly 5 crore gallons of water gushed in the mine and all the 375 mine personnel, both officials and workers, met their watery grave inside the mine.
Pumps were brought in from Poland, Russia and US to drain out water from the inundated mine but to no avail. Ministers from the Centre and state kept camping at Chasnala to expedite rescue operation. But the first dead body could come out only on the 26th day of the accident with the help of Russian pumps. Many bodies were rendered beyond recognition and many of them were identified with the cap-lamp allotted to them for entering the mine.
A case of criminal negligence was lodged against the colliery officials but most of them got acquitted for want of proper evidence and many of them died during trial.
GM Bhowmik said, "The company was taking all measures to avoid recurrence of such incidents and ensure safety of the miners. We are monitoring the gas level and temperature in the mine round the clock with the help of sensors and all the miners are provided with safety gears before entering the mine."
JVM MLA and AITUC leader Dhullu Mahto who arrived late demanded the colliery management to clear the pending cases of appointment to the kin of those who lost their lives in the accident within a month and threatened of a chakka-Jam if the management failed in complying with the demand. He also demanded the colliery management not to lodge cases against villagers lifting coal for their personal use. Instead, cases should be lodged against racketeers lifting coal through trucks and wagons, he added.
Friday 28 December 2012
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ranchi/Chasnala-mine-disaster-victims-remembered/articleshow/17792691.cms
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