Sindri: A 35-year-old woman, Kalyani Devi, died after a portion of land caved in and she got buried under debris near Vishwakarma project under Kusunda area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited on Friday.
Kalyani’s body was recovered five hours after the mishap. The locals blocked the Jharia-Dhanbad-Sindri main road to protest against the woman’s death. The blockade was lifted after the colliery management agreed to pay a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the victim’s family and bear the cost of education of her two children.
According to reports, Kalyani, wife of Dilip Bauri, had gone to relieve herself along with her seven-year-old daughter Komal near the project site. Suddenly, the land subsided and she got trapped under debris. A few locals tried to rescue her, but without success.
Local residents blocked the Jharia-Dhanbad Road for than an hour from 9am, demanding compensation for the family of the deceased. This was followed by negotiations between BCCL officials and Kalyani’s family members.
Kalyani’s husband, Dilip Bauri (36) is a daily wage earner. “We don’t have a toilet in our house. All family members go outside to answer nature’s call. My wife went out this (Friday) morning along with my elder daughter, but fate had something else in store for us. My wife fell into the crater that developed after a cave-in,” he said.
Residents blamed BCCL for negligence. “BCCL never tried to douse the underground fire. Noe did it plan to shift us to a safer site, compelling us to risk or lives and stay here,” said Shanti Devi, who lives next door to Kalyani.