There are quite a number of underground fires around the world. The worst one I know of is in India.
Home -> News -> India -> Full Story
Underground mine fires threaten crucial rail line
Nityanand Shukla, Ranchi
Feb 19, 2001 11:35 Hrs (IST)
FIRES burning in numerous coalmines under a crucial railway line in Jharkhand are a constant threat to the track that is a vital supply route for coal and an important passenger line.
Experts say the 10.5 km long Dhanbad-Paterdih railway line, which links the eastern and southeastern rail routes of the country, is a disaster waiting to happen.
Underground mine fires have long threatened to burn up the rail line that passes through the mines of Rajapur, south Jharia, Lodna, Bagdigi and Bararee collieries at the Jharia coal belt in Dhanbad district in the state.
In 1996, a study conducted by World Bank experts on the mine fires in the Jharia belt warned the government of "the imminent danger of collapses of this stretch of rail line."
The same year district authorities, through an advertisement in a local newspaper, asked the 150,000-strong population of Jharia to evacuate the township due to the underground fires, burning since 1935.
The Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. (BCCL) and the Eastern Coalfields Ltd. (ECL) own most of the mines in the region. And sources in BCCL claim that coal worth Rs 50 billion is lying beneath Jharia.
The chairman and managing director of BCCL, A.K. Gulati, had pointed out the threat of mine fires to the general manager of Eastern Railway in 1996. Gulati, in his letter to the general manager, reportedly said that fires in coal seams at Rajapur, south Jharia, Lodana, Bagdigi, and Bararees collieries threaten the Dhanbad-Paterdih line.
Gulati had also cited the World Bank technical assistance project on controlling the Jharia mine fire that apprehended the danger to this line. "A 2,800 meter-long section of the Dhanbad-Paterdih link railway line could subside due to existing and previous underground fires," Gulati had said in his letter urging the general manager to take preventive measures.
The issue of mine fires was raised in Parliament by Dhanbad lawmaker Rita Verma, after which a meeting of officials of the railway and coal ministry was held in May 2000. But no solutions emerged from the meeting.
The parliamentary standing committee on energy (1998-99) and the committee on public undertakings also highlighted the threat to rail lines in the Jharia region from underground mine fires.
Recent landslides in the area have also threatened the Dhanbad line, and reports say 30 to 40 houses near the area have developed cracks. The Dhanbad line is just 50 feet away from the site of the landslides.
India Abroad News Services
Coal fire in India
Dave Tahija
location: Butte, Montana, en route from San Francisco to Juneau
listening to: Train - Save me, San Francisco
registered: 1999.12.27
posts: 261
[view all posts]
[view all posts]
D
Dave Tahija
(view)
There are quite a number of underground fires around the world. The worst one I know of is in India.
Home -> News -> India -> Full Story
Underground mine fires threaten crucial rail line
Nityanand Shukla, Ranchi
Feb 19, 2001 11:35 Hrs (IST)
FIRES burning in numerous coalmines under a crucial railway line in Jharkhand are a constant threat to the track that is a vital supply route for coal and an important passenger line.
Experts say the 10.5 km long Dhanbad-Paterdih railway line, which links the eastern and southeastern rail routes of the country, is a disaster waiting to happen.
Underground mine fires have long threatened to burn up the rail line that passes through the mines of Rajapur, south Jharia, Lodna, Bagdigi and Bararee collieries at the Jharia coal belt in Dhanbad district in the state.
In 1996, a study conducted by World Bank experts on the mine fires in the Jharia belt warned the government of "the imminent danger of collapses of this stretch of rail line."
The same year district authorities, through an advertisement in a local newspaper, asked the 150,000-strong population of Jharia to evacuate the township due to the underground fires, burning since 1935.
The Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. (BCCL) and the Eastern Coalfields Ltd. (ECL) own most of the mines in the region. And sources in BCCL claim that coal worth Rs 50 billion is lying beneath Jharia.
The chairman and managing director of BCCL, A.K. Gulati, had pointed out the threat of mine fires to the general manager of Eastern Railway in 1996. Gulati, in his letter to the general manager, reportedly said that fires in coal seams at Rajapur, south Jharia, Lodana, Bagdigi, and Bararees collieries threaten the Dhanbad-Paterdih line.
Gulati had also cited the World Bank technical assistance project on controlling the Jharia mine fire that apprehended the danger to this line. "A 2,800 meter-long section of the Dhanbad-Paterdih link railway line could subside due to existing and previous underground fires," Gulati had said in his letter urging the general manager to take preventive measures.
The issue of mine fires was raised in Parliament by Dhanbad lawmaker Rita Verma, after which a meeting of officials of the railway and coal ministry was held in May 2000. But no solutions emerged from the meeting.
The parliamentary standing committee on energy (1998-99) and the committee on public undertakings also highlighted the threat to rail lines in the Jharia region from underground mine fires.
Recent landslides in the area have also threatened the Dhanbad line, and reports say 30 to 40 houses near the area have developed cracks. The Dhanbad line is just 50 feet away from the site of the landslides.
India Abroad News Services
Home -> News -> India -> Full Story
Underground mine fires threaten crucial rail line
Nityanand Shukla, Ranchi
Feb 19, 2001 11:35 Hrs (IST)
FIRES burning in numerous coalmines under a crucial railway line in Jharkhand are a constant threat to the track that is a vital supply route for coal and an important passenger line.
Experts say the 10.5 km long Dhanbad-Paterdih railway line, which links the eastern and southeastern rail routes of the country, is a disaster waiting to happen.
Underground mine fires have long threatened to burn up the rail line that passes through the mines of Rajapur, south Jharia, Lodna, Bagdigi and Bararee collieries at the Jharia coal belt in Dhanbad district in the state.
In 1996, a study conducted by World Bank experts on the mine fires in the Jharia belt warned the government of "the imminent danger of collapses of this stretch of rail line."
The same year district authorities, through an advertisement in a local newspaper, asked the 150,000-strong population of Jharia to evacuate the township due to the underground fires, burning since 1935.
The Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. (BCCL) and the Eastern Coalfields Ltd. (ECL) own most of the mines in the region. And sources in BCCL claim that coal worth Rs 50 billion is lying beneath Jharia.
The chairman and managing director of BCCL, A.K. Gulati, had pointed out the threat of mine fires to the general manager of Eastern Railway in 1996. Gulati, in his letter to the general manager, reportedly said that fires in coal seams at Rajapur, south Jharia, Lodana, Bagdigi, and Bararees collieries threaten the Dhanbad-Paterdih line.
Gulati had also cited the World Bank technical assistance project on controlling the Jharia mine fire that apprehended the danger to this line. "A 2,800 meter-long section of the Dhanbad-Paterdih link railway line could subside due to existing and previous underground fires," Gulati had said in his letter urging the general manager to take preventive measures.
The issue of mine fires was raised in Parliament by Dhanbad lawmaker Rita Verma, after which a meeting of officials of the railway and coal ministry was held in May 2000. But no solutions emerged from the meeting.
The parliamentary standing committee on energy (1998-99) and the committee on public undertakings also highlighted the threat to rail lines in the Jharia region from underground mine fires.
Recent landslides in the area have also threatened the Dhanbad line, and reports say 30 to 40 houses near the area have developed cracks. The Dhanbad line is just 50 feet away from the site of the landslides.
India Abroad News Services
