Coal Minister Orders Probe Into Talcher Land Subside

Talcher: A day after a portion of land caved in inside two houses near Town police station here on Wednesday night, Union Coal Minister Piyush Goyal ordered a thorough probe into the incident.

The directive of the Union Minister came following a request from Union Petroleum and Natural Gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

In a letter, Dharmendra urged Goyal to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident in the mining area of Talcher town to dispel the doubts of the people.

Goyal informed that to give top priority to the concern of the people of Talcher, he has ordered a detailed investigation which would be jointly conducted by a team of experts from Director General Mines Safety (DGMS), Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited (CMPDIL) and Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL).

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

According to sources, a portion of land measuring about 5 feet in length and 6 feet in width suddenly cave in inside the house of one Shanti Bai and later stretched to her neighbour’s on Wednesday. At this, the panicked members ran out of the house and shouted for help.

People from nearby areas rushed to the spot as the news spread in the town.

As tension ran high in the area, the Town Police took stock of the situation and managed to pacify the people.

The incident took place at around 8 pm.

The locals attributed it to faulty management of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) authorities.

Demanding a thorough probe into the incident, they had called for a 12-hour bandh at Talcher on Thursday.

While all trading established had downed shutters, transport of coal was severely affected as the vehicular traffic had come to a grinding halt.

However, police on Thursday night picked up seven agitators in presence of the local magistrate and two agitators this morning.

Till reports last came in, normalcy was restored in the town with agitators withdrawing the agitation.