Ranchi, August 10: BJP on Sunday demanded immediate intervention of Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal in the cave-in incident of a portion of a national highway in Jharkhand.
Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha today spoke to Jaiswal and asked for his immediate intervention in the incident which happened along the NH-33 near Kuju in neighbouring Ramagarh district.
“I spoke to Union minister Jaiswal on Sunday and demanded that a Central team should visit the spot and assess the danger,” Sinha told a press conference in Hazaribagh.
The former Union minister said he was surprised as to why the administration or the CCL did not take any step earlier despite having knowledge about the underground fire, and claimed that he had not seen any team undertaking operation to deal with the situation.
BJP’s state unit president Raghuvar Das said in Ranchi that both the state and the Central governments should own up the responsibility as they “failed” to take any steps to curb the fire during the initial days in the coal belt.
“The economy has taken a beating following the damage to the national highway, which is the lifeline for several industries engaged in transporting coal and other minerals,” he added.
The NH-33, winding through Ramgarh and Hazaribagh, has been closed to traffic with only light vehicles allowed to pass along the route.
Sinha said he had also spoken to Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the Central Coalfields Limited, R K Saha, about the situation.
The BJP heavyweight demanded immediate action against those involved in the alleged illegal mining that let the situation come to such pass.
BJP also demanded immediate sand-filling of tunnels and abandoned coal mines to prevent illegal mining. While fires appeared on the surface of NH 33 on Friday causing disruption of traffic, the big crater came up on Sunday as large chunks of the road suddenly caved in with a thud.
The underground coal fire had been raging in the area for several weeks in past.
–Agencies