Toxic Gas Emission Threatens Dhanbad Community: Urgent Intervention Needed

A team from Ranchi assessed the serious toxic gas emissions from underground coal mines in Dhanbad's PB colliery area. Two deaths and numerous hospitalizations were reported due to carbon monoxide exposure. Protests erupted as residents feared eviction for a new coal project. Mitigation efforts are ongoing.

A team from Ranchi arrived in Dhanbad on Sunday to investigate toxic gas emissions from underground coal mines, authorities confirmed.

The officials conducted their assessment at Rajput Basti in the PB colliery area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited, where carbon monoxide balloons have been posing a grave danger. Tragically, two women have died, and over two dozen residents—primarily children and women—were hospitalized because of the hazardous emissions.

On Saturday, experts alarmingly recorded carbon monoxide levels reaching up to 1,500 parts per million, drastically exceeding the permissible limit. Despite no new health cases reported by Sunday evening, the district's inhabitants, worried about forced relocation, protested as the NDRF team sought solutions to the escalating crisis.

(With inputs from agencies.)