Two days after traffic on the stretch was closed due to an underground fire,a 80-sq ft section of the NH 33 caved in near Kujju in Ramgarh district. Though no one was injured in the incident,the administration has cordoned off a three-sq km area and declared it a danger zone. On Sunday,Ramgarh Deputy Commissioner A K Sinha visited the area and asked residents of the nearby Dhora hamlet to vacate their village. The fire is spreading and we dont want to take any chances. These people have to vacate, Sinha told The Indian Express. The area is above the abandoned mines of the Central Coalfields Ltd and the 56 families in the hamlet make a living by extracting coal. However,the villagers have refused to shift as they have not been provided any compensation or an alternative plot to settle in. We have no land,no money. Where we will go? asked Shanti Devi,a widow with three children. The officials have ruled out using force to evict the villagers. Meanwhile,CCL has started boring the area to find spots where the fire was raging. The process to extinguish the fire can start only after we calculate the location and depth, said Dheeraj Singh,a CCL engineer. On Friday,the Ramgarh district administration had closed this stretch of the NH 33,which links Ranchi with Hazaribagh and Patna,diverting traffic via the longer Barkakana,Ramgarh and Barhi route. The CCL has sanctioned Rs 3.06 crore to build a parallel road. Secretary (Mines) S K Satapathy said the loss could have been minimised had preventive measures been taken when the underground fire was detected two months ago. Now we have to ensure no damage is caused to life and property in Dhora, he added. Governor K Sankaranarayanan has also asked officials to prepare an action plan to douse the fire and submit an action taken report within a week.
