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Barapukuria Coalmine

Panic grips villagers in subsided areas

81 houses develop cracks

Our Correspondent, Dinajpur
Residents of five villages near Barapukuria Coalmine Company Ltd (BCMCL) have been living in panic under the open sky since Wednesday night when their houses developed cracks and 300 acres of land subsided two to three feet.
At least 81 houses developed cracks in the five villages, according to locals.
BCMCL authorities claimed 23 houses of Moupukur and 53 houses of Kalupara developed cracks and 71 acres of land of two villages-Jhigari
and Moupukur—subsided.
Angry locals of the affected villages laid siege to the BCMCL complex since Wednesday night, held demonstrations and hurled brickbats at the complex.
Mostafizur Rahman Fizar, state minister for forest and environment ministry, along with four MPs of Dinajpur and Deputy Commissioner of Dinajpur Nabiul Haque Mollah visited the area Thursday afternoon.
The state minister assured the victims of effective preventive
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measures and compensation fortheir loss.
According to the locals and BCMCL authorities, land over Phase-1104 of the coalmine, where coal extraction is ongoing, subsided at 8.40pm Wednesday.
During a visit to the villages The Daily Star correspondent saw the cracks were 20-40 metres long in places.
A BCMCL official seeking anonymity told The Daily Star that ground over phases 1101, 1103 and 1104 subsided at a few places. The official said phases 1101 and 1103 have been sealed off with concrete pillars in 2008 after coal extraction was completed.
He suspects the pillars are either collapsing or subsiding. He said the problem probably would not have developed had the tunnels been filled with sand.
According to BCMCL authorities and locals, at least three major subsidence occurred around Barapukuria coalmine area since May, 2006. The BCMCL had provided "insufficient" compensation to the victims, locals said.