Land subsidence victims block road near coal mine
Victims of land subsidence around Barapukuria Coal Mine block Parbatipur-Dinajpur Road in front of the mine yesterday to realise the remaining amount of the compensation.Photo: STAR
The land subsidence victims of 10 villages around Barapukuria Coal Mine Company Ltd (BCMCL) yesterday blocked a road in front of the mine gate yesterday. Demanding the rest amount of the compensation, around 3,000 villagers sat down on Parbatipur-Rangpur road and later withdrew the blockade when authorities assured them paying Tk 21 crore by today. However, the agitating villagers later went back to their sit-in programme again, demanding full payment of the compensation. The villagers started their 120-hour sit-in about a week ago to realise their compensation money. Yesterday, hundreds of male, female and children gathered around the mine wielding wooden sticks and stood in front of the two main entrances. Jibon O Shampad Rakkha Committee, a platform of land subsidence affected people, organised the protest programme. According to the villagers, they got Tk 112 crore compensation since September 22 last year, while Tk 78 crore still remained unpaid. The protesters said they will continue their programme till realisation of the demands. However, BCMCL authorities said that the activities at the mine continued as usual till filing of this report yesterday afternoon. A large number of police, BGB and Rab members were deployed in and outside the mine area to avert any untoward incident.
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