Family members and colleagues of Rohan Mahto protest in Dhanbad on Saturday. (Gautam Dey)

Dhanbad, Sept. 25: The stalemate at BCCL’s Moonidih project continued for the second consecutive day today as all efforts to bring about a truce between agitators and colliery management over the death of a contractual worker, Rohan Mahto, failed.

The family members and colleagues of the deceased refused to cremate his body till their demand for a job for Mahto’s wife was met.

Rohan Mahto (25) died in an accident in the colliery late Thursday night.

The agitation intensified today as legislators such as former Baghmara MLA Jaleshwar Mahto and senior leaders of five central trade unions — Intuc, Aituc, Citu, HMS and BMS — lent their support.

Senior officials of district administration and police also tried to break the deadlock. The colliery management has expressed its inability to provide jobs to the deceased’s dependants as he was a contractual employee.

But negotiations between the management, agitators and district administration were on.

Coal production remained affected during the second consecutive day as the agitators staged a dharna at the colliery’s main gate. They did not even allow the workers on emergency service to go in.