The Jamuria school (circled) with some of the coal pits dug by pilferers outside. (Gour Sharma)

Jamuria (Burdwan), July 7: Fear of subsidence has gripped a school in Asansol’s Jamuria with coal pilferers digging pits near the institute but police have allegedly ignored repeated complaints from the school authorities.

The pilferers explode dynamite to extract coal from the pits, within 150 metres of Bakshimulia High School, shaking the school building and creating panic among students and teachers. Eighteen pits have been dug and gangs plunder coal regularly, the school authorities said.

Headmaster Sachchidananda Singh said he had complained to the police last month, but the officer-in-charge of Jamuria police station told this newspaper there was no illegal coal mine near the school.

“The school building trembles whenever the smugglers burst explosives. The students feel scared. It is unfortunate I run a school near which such criminal activities take place. I went to the police but they turned a deaf ear,” the headmaster said.

OC Saikat Roy, however, claimed that Singh had never approached him. “His allegations are false. There is no illegal mining in the area under my jurisdiction,” Roy said.

The headmaster has approached the additional district inspector of schools and the sub-divisional officer of Asansol too.

“I have written to the sub-divisional officer and the additional district inspector of schools and sought their intervention,” he said.

Sub-divisional officer Sandip Dutta said he had sought a report from OC Roy. “The OC has denied the presence of illegal mines near the school, or anywhere else in and also in Jamuria, in the report he submitted to me. However, I plan to visit the place,” Dutta said.

Debaprasad Banerjee, the additional district inspector of schools, said he had forwarded the complaint to his superiors.

A Class VI student of Bakshimulia High School was crushed to death by a bullock cart loaded with stolen coal in April, less than 400 metres from the school. A mob had torched tonnes of coal and a police jeep after Mohammad Ershad Rejjak’s death.

Coal pilfering is common in the Durgapur-Asansol coal belt, including Jamuria, often triggering fears of subsidence in residential areas because of the hollows created under the earth by the digging.

Serpentine bullock cart convoys carrying stolen coal regularly pass through villages in the belt. The coal thieves allegedly pay money to the police to look the other way.

The Telegraph had carried a series of articles exposing the rampant theft of coal in the belt.

A resident of Bakshimulia, Kanchan Siddiqui (name changed), 42, who runs a tea stall, said: “Coal theft is rampant in this area and it is going on with the knowledge of the police. We are always scared of subsidence.”

The pilferers dig wells, which are 100 to 150 feet deep, to reach the coal layers underground. They cut the coal with axe and shovels, which creates tunnels and hollows.

“We live in a constant state of fear. The risk of subsidence is particularly high during the monsoon when the ground becomes soft because of the rain,” said Madan Singh (name changed), 40, a local grocer.

Subal Nath, the local Forward Bloc councillor of Jamuria municipality, and former Congress councillor Abdul Barik blamed the police for their “inaction”.

“The police are doing nothing to stop coal theft in the area. I have raised the issue with the police several times but nothing has been done,” Nath said.