Coal being smuggled out of a Bankura mine on bullock carts. Picture by Gour Sharma

Ranigunj, April 20: A new “job” is drawing thousands of unemployed men and women: coal smuggling.

The abandoned mines of Eastern Coalfields Limited have given people from Burdwan, Bankura and Purulia, and even neighbouring Jharkhand, a way to keep the kitchen fire burning.

With police and ECL authorities busy blaming each other, the coal thieves are having a free run.

The path to the black gold is perilous, though. Since July 2006, 15 persons involved in illegal mining have died in the coal belt of Burdwan district alone (see chart).

But the Rs 120-150 a month that the youths get for digging up abandoned mines and smuggling out coal is a good enough bait to brush off the threat of danger.

Raju Murmu, Vinod Ram, Selim Ansari and Wasim Sheikh — all in their early 20s and from Mihijam area of Jharkhand near its border with Bengal — have picked the Ranigunj-Asansol coal belt as their hunting ground.

“We know we are doing something illegal. But this is the only way we can feed our families. The pay is quite good by our standards,” said Raju.

According to ECL’s estimate, nearly 50,000 young and middle-aged men and women are involved in illegal mining.

“Our job is to dig up the abandoned mines with hammers and chisels for coal that might be lying there. We know it is extremely dangerous but we have to earn our bread,” Sheikh said.

The stolen coal is carried to depots on bullock carts and bicycles, and then despatched to various places in trucks.

Although there have been occasional raids and arrests, the police have failed to stop illegal mining.

They blame the ECL for not taking adequate steps to check the menace. “Most of the illegal mines have come up in the ECL leasehold area, where they have their own guards. We take action whenever we get complaints. But what is the ECL doing to check the crime?” asked Burdwan superintendent of police Peeyush Pandey.

The ECL authorities have submitted a report to the government identifying at least 20,000 illegal mines in Burdwan, Bankura and Purulia.

The report was prepared following a string of cave-ins, which led to underground fires and emission of smoke and poisonous gas, in the Ranigunj coal belt since December last year.

“Most of the incidents were caused by illegal mining. We fill up the pits with mud and sand but the coal smugglers dig them up again. We have lodged several complaints with the police but the smugglers return after lying low for some time,” said U.S. Upadhyay, director (technical), ECL.

“People blame us when these incidents happen, but we are helpless,” he added.

Asansol MP Bansagopal Chowdhury said the illegal mining was thriving because the police were “inactive”.