A massive coal mine accident took place in Rajmahal Project in Godda district of Jharkhand on 29 December 2016. A team of Coal Mines Workers Union which visited the site of the accident, found out that despite the workers repeatedly pointing out and warning that mines had sunk, on the day of the accident workers were forced to start work at 4. Within three hours of starting the work, more than hundred mine workers were killed due to dangerous mine quagmire. They got buried 300 feet below. After the accident, it is extremely painful that far from immediately starting the relief work, the manager of the mines tried to delay the relief operations by saying that sinking of the mines was continuing and hence it was not appropriate to start relief work. After recovering only 18 bodies, a road was built 300 feet above several other bodies still buried underneath and on the pretext of continuing the electricity generation in Kahalgaon under the Rajmahal project, the whole incident was sought to be brushed aside.
A massive motorcycle juloos by the CMWU was carried out from Chirkunda, passing Asansol to the ECL headoffice in Sanktoria where the gates were blocked for several hours to protest against this inhuman act of trying to ensure produce and profits over the dead bodies of mine workers. The ECL manager was severely reprimanded and rebuked for delaying the relief work. A demand was made to initiate a CBI inquiry into this entire incident and especially into the violation of the Mining Safety Regulations. The other demands included: Filing a case of murder on the Rajmahal project manager and Mahalakshmi outsourcing company; ouster of the outsourcing companies from coal industries; and a compensation of 25 lakh each to the families of those who died, in addition to a permanent job in ECL for the family members of the dead.
