• DR. SHARMISTHA MUKHERJEE

On Feb 28, 2007, an explosion in an abandoned underground coalmine tore through several homes in West Bengal's Burdwan district causing cracks along a stretch of the NH2 (that connects Kolkata to Delhi), disrupting road and railway traffic in the area.The blasts happened in a coalmine near Asansol. Preliminary investigations found that the cracks along the highway developed due to subsidence in the area where an abandoned coalmine is located. Officials of the directorate general of mines safety, say, the explosion was probably caused by methane, a coal-bed gas, which had accumulated in the abandoned pit. The blast, in turn, collapsed underground pillars in the mines and caused the subsidence.The mine, owned by Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), was abandoned in the 1960s but was not filled up with sand (a precautionary measure against subsidence).The pit was sealed in 2005 after a baby fell into it. ECL has refused to take responsibility for the abandoned mines and blamed illegal mining for the incident.

"BIO-RECLAMATION AS A DEFENDER AGAINST ACID MINE DRAINAGE AND RELATED ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN ABANDONED COAL MINES OF WEST BENGAL", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 4, page no.154-163, April-2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1904X22.pdf

"BIO-RECLAMATION AS A DEFENDER AGAINST ACID MINE DRAINAGE AND RELATED ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN ABANDONED COAL MINES OF WEST BENGAL", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 4, page no. pp154-163, April-2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1904X22.pdf