Ranchi/Dhanbad: The Union Ministry of Coal has reported a significant reduction in the number of fire-affected sites in Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL)'s Jharia coalfields in Dhanbad over the past two decades, from 77 to 27.

In a statement issued late Monday night, the ministry stated, "The fire-affected areas have significantly reduced from 77 sites in the pre-nationalization era to 67 sites under the Jharia Master Plan of 2009, covering 17.3 sq km, and further reduced to 27 sites covering 1.8 sq km, according to surveys conducted in 2021."

The ministry also revealed that a process is currently underway to allot over 8,000 houses to families who need to be relocated from fire-prone zones and rehabilitated under the Jharia Master Plan of 2009.

"The rehabilitation involves three categories of the population: legal title holders, non-legal title holders, and the families of BCCL employees. Initially, BCCL was supposed to construct 25,000 houses, but the number was reduced to 15,713 due to superannuation and other reasons. To date, BCCL has constructed 11,798 houses, while the remaining are under construction," the ministry stated.

BCCL sources in its Dhanbad headquarters noted that the ministry has set strict deadlines for phased rehabilitation of the affected families. However, Dhanbad district administrative officials, including Deputy Commissioner Varun Ranjan, did not respond to calls and messages when contacted on Tuesday.

It's important to note that the implementation of the Jharia Master Plan is supposed to be carried out by the Jharia Rehabilitation and Development Authority, with BCCL providing funds for the plan's implementation, as stated by an anonymous BCCL official who spoke to TOI.