'Illegal Mining' Causes Collapse At Bharat Coking Coal Mine In Bengal, Several Workers Trapped

An open-cast mine of Bharat Coking Coal Ltd in West Bengal's Asansol has collapsed due to an "illegal mining" operation, NDTV reported on Tuesday.

Several workers are feared to be trapped, the report said. Asansol Municipal Corporation Ward Councillor Ashok Paswan confirmed the news of the collapse.

Relief and rescue operations are being carried out by BCCL using JCB machines. The incident occurred in the Barira area of ​​the Kulti police station jurisdiction in Asansol. The collapse reportedly took place when coal was being illegally extracted from a BCCL open-cast mine. 

Open-cast mining, also known as open pit mining, refers to a surface mining method used to extract minerals like coal, copper, and gold by digging large, terraced pits directly into the earth. In the process, layers of soil and rock are removed to access valuable deposits near the surface.

Asansol is a major industrial city, known for its large coalfields, significant railway network, and other industries like steel and textiles.

The news of the collapse came amid BCCL IPO's final day of bidding. The initial public offer had a tight grasp on D-Street investors. At the end of the bidding session, the IPO was oversubscribed by 146.87 times after qualified institutional buyers led the bidding.

The Dhanbad-headquartered company is a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd., which is the largest public-sector coal producer in the world.

India's first deadly coal mining incident took place in Dhanbad in December 1975, after millions of gallons of water from a nearby reservoir flooded the underground mine and trapped workers deep inside. The incident claimed the lives of at least 372 miners and is considered one of the deadliest in the world.