Dhanbad gas leak: NDRF tests coal mine emissions as locals allege ‘eviction under cover’

NDRF team from Ranchi is measuring carbon monoxide levels in Dhanbad’s coal belt after two deaths and multiple hospitalisations, even as residents protest and allege a forced eviction push.

A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team from Ranchi reached Dhanbad on Sunday to assess toxic gas emissions from underground coal mines after two deaths and multiple hospitalisations in the area, officials told PTI.

The team is examining suspected carbon monoxide leaks in and around Rajput Basti in the Putki Balihari (PB) colliery zone of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), about 15 km from the district headquarters, they said.

Residents, already alarmed by the deaths and earlier high readings of carbon monoxide (CO), now fear that the gas scare could be used to push them out of their homes in the Jharia coal belt.

The NDRF personnel visited Rajput Basti in the PB colliery area, which falls under the Kenduadih police station limits, on Sunday.

Kenduadih police station officer-in-charge Prabodh Pandey told PTI that the team is assessing the level of gas leakage, identifying the type of gas being emitted and exploring ways to mitigate it.

Officials said the team is examining gas leakage near the abandoned GM Bangla in the PB Area of Rajput Basti. Emissions have been reported from three locations, Rajput Basti, Muslim Muhalla and near the Kenduadih police station building.

NDRF personnel, however, declined to share details with journalists waiting at the site, PTI reported.

The emission of toxic carbon monoxide was first reported on Wednesday in Rajput Basti.

The leak led to the death of two women and the hospitalisation of more than two dozen residents — mostly children and women — at BCCL’s Kustore Regional Hospital and Central Hospital, Dhanbad, according to PTI.

On Saturday, an expert told PTI that carbon monoxide levels in the air had touched around 1,500 parts per million (ppm) — about 30 times the permissible limit of 50 ppm. Such levels are considered dangerous and can turn fatal with prolonged exposure.

By 6 pm on Sunday, no fresh cases of gas-affected residents had been reported, officials said. Residents, however, told PTI that they could still smell a low level of gas in the neighbourhood.

As the NDRF team, accompanied by district administration officials, Kenduadih police personnel and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) jawans, began its assessment on Sunday afternoon, residents staged strong protests and tried to obstruct the work.

Lal Bahadur Singh, a resident, alleged that BCCL was using the pretext of gas leakage to evict locals for a mega coal project.

Meanwhile, residents were taken in two buses to Belagadia Township to see quarters proposed for their relocation.

The township has been developed by the Jharia Rehabilitation and Development Authority (JRDA) for people living in underground mine fire zones. For many residents, the sudden push towards relocation has revived long-standing distrust over how rehabilitation in the Jharia coal belt has been implemented and whether livelihoods and services will be protected after the move.

The current gas scare reinforces long-running concerns over safety in Dhanbad’s coal belt, where underground fires, subsidence and emissions have plagued several settlements for years.

While JRDA townships like Belagadia were designed to shift people away from high-risk zones, rehabilitation has progressed unevenly, and many families have continued to live atop or near unstable mine areas.

The latest incident, with carbon monoxide levels reportedly hitting 30 times the permissible limit, has sharpened the tension between immediate risk mitigation and the way resettlement is being pushed on the ground.

For now, the NDRF’s assessment will be crucial in determining both the technical cause of the leak and the urgency of relocation. But with protests building and trust between residents and authorities visibly frayed, the challenge in Dhanbad is no longer just measuring gas — it is convincing people that safety, not displacement, is driving the response.