Contents

Sripur Area

For other uses, see Sripur.

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Sripur Area

Sripur Area Location in West Bengal Show map of West Bengal Sripur Area Sripur Area (India) Show map of India
Coordinates	23°41′06″N 87°02′52″E / 23.684889°N 87.047754°E / 23.684889; 87.047754
Owner
Company	Eastern Coalfields Limited
Website	http://www.easterncoal.gov.in/

Sripur Area is one of the 14 operational areas of Eastern Coalfields Limited located in Asansol subdivisionofPaschim Bardhaman district in the state of West Bengal, India.

Geography[edit]

3km
2miles

Damodar River

ECL Satgram Area Office

A

Satgram Incline Colliery

U

Chapui Khas Colliery

U

Ratibati Colliery

U

Nimcha Colliery

U

Ardhagram Project

O

Kalidaspur Project

O

JK Nagar Project

O

Pure Searsole Colliery

U

Mithapur Colliery

U

Satgram Project

O

Bhanora Colliery

U

Damra Colliery

U

ECL Sripur Area Office

A

Adjoy II Colliery

U

S.S.Incline

U

Ningah Colliery

U

Ghusick Colliery

U

Location[edit]

Sripur Area is located around 23°41′06″N 87°02′52″E / 23.684889°N 87.047754°E / 23.684889; 87.047754

The Sripur Area is bounded by the rural areas Jamuria CD Block on the north, Pandaveswar Area on the east, Satgram Area on the south, and neighbourhoods of Asansol and Barabani CD Block/Salanpur Area on the west.^{[1][2][circular reference]}

The map alongside shows some of the collieries in the Areas. However, as the collieries do not have individual pages, there are no links in the full screen map.

Collieries[edit]

As per the Shodhganga website, collieries in the Sripur Area are: Ghusick, Nigah, S.S.Incline, Jamuria, Sripur, K.D.Incline, Adjoy II, Bhanora, Kalipahari and Damra.^[3]

As per ECL website telephone numbers, operational collieries in the Sripur Area in 2018 are: Bhanora West Block Colliery, Girmint Colliery, New Ghusick Colliery, Kalipahari Colliery, Ningha Colliery and S.S.I. Colliery.^[4]

Mines cluster[edit]

Cluster No. 8 is in the west-central portion of Raniganj Coalfield and spans over four geological blocks, namely Sripur, Satgram, Ningha and Bhanora. The mines are under the administrative control of Sripur and Satgram Areas of ECL. As of 2015–16, the composition of the cluster is as follows:^[5]

1. Bhanora underground mine, with normative annual production capacity of 0.2 million tonnes and peak annual production capacity of 0.3 mt, had an expected life of over 20 years.
2. Girmint/ KDI UG mine, with normative annual production capacity of 0.04 mt and peak annual production capacity of 0.65 mt, had an expected life of over 50 years.
3. Sripur UG mine, with normative annual production capacity of 0.014 mt and peak annual production capacity of 0.024 mt, had an expected life of over 20 years.
4. Sripur Seam Incline UG mine, with normative annual production capacity of 0.105 mt and peak annual production capacity of 0.136 mt, had an expected life of over 25 years.
5. Ningha UG mine, with normative annual production capacity of 0.040 mt and peak annual production capacity of 0.100 mt, had an expected life of over 50 years.
6. Mithapur West UG mine and open cast patch, with normative annual production capacity of 0.28 mt and peak annual production capacity of 0.342 mt, had an expected life of over 50 years.
7. Satgram UG mine, with normative production capacity of 0.85 mt and peak annual production capacity of 1.200 mt, had an expected life of over 30 years.
As of 2015–16, there was no production from Bhanora UG mine, Girmint/KDI UG mine and Sripur UG mine. In Sripur Seam Incline UG mine, Rana (R-V) seam was being worked manually. In Ningha UG mine, Dishergarh (R-IV) seam was being worked by board and pillar method. There was no production from Mithapur West UG mine and OC patch. In Satgram UG mine, R-IV and R-III seams were being worked.

See also – Salanpur Area#Mining plan for Bhanora West UG mine and Bhanora West OC patch
See also – Satgram Area#Mining plan for Ghusick, New Ghusick and Kalipahari collieries

Illegal coal mining[edit]

India is the third largest coal producer in the world. Mining is a highly organized industry, but there are gaps and loopholes. Beyond, or rather underneath, the well-organised industry, there is a large sector described as illegal mining. According to Haradhan Roy, the veteran political leader and trade unionist, about a million tonnes of coal are produced by illegal collieries in Raniganj alone. The total annual national production from such mines in India is not less than 20 million tonnes. In 2001 there were at least 33 identified sites of unauthorized mining in Raniganj. Of these many were in Salanpur, Sripur, Satgram and Sodepur Areas. Seven are outside ECL's lease-hold land. However, apart from the identified areas, such activities are spread across the entire region.^[6]

Systematic mining and movement of coal by the railways, started in the mid-nineteenth century in the Raniganj Coalfields, led by Carr, Tagore and Company.^[7][8] The conventional "board and pillar" system was used in Indian underground collieries. In this system coal pillars are left behind to support the roof and the vacant space was not always filled with sand. ECL leaves a mine as soon as it is ‘uneconomic’, leaving the remaining coal for others to scavenge upon.^[6] There are around 1,380 abandoned pits and inclines of ECL in the region.^[9] The veteran CITU leader, Sunil Basu Roy, described the workers of the illegal mines as "the wretched on the earth" – they have no where else to go and no other means of survival. In Gourandi village, near Asansol, around 5,000 people work in shifts in an open cast mine. Work in such mines are labour-intensive and machines are unknown. The poor who rush into such jobs come from all segments of society, the adivasi and other locals and migrants. They are quite often in the news when accidents occur.^[6]

5km
3miles

Ajay River

Damodar River

Jamuria

N

Raniganj

N

Asansol

MC

ECL Kenda
Area Office

ECL Kunustoria
Area Office

ECL Satgram
Area Office

ECL Sripur
Area Office

0V

Bahadurpur

R

Churulia

R

Ballavpur

CT

Raghunathchak

CT

Sahebganj

CT

Egara

CT

Baktarnagar

CT

Amkula

CT

Murgathaul

CT

Chelad

CT

Belebathan

CT

Banshra

CT

Jemari
(Jaykaynagar)

CT

Chapui

CT

Ratibati

CT

Parasia

CT

Kenda

CT

Chinchuria

CT

Nimsa

CT

Topsi

CT

Kunustara

CT

Subsidence[edit]

Traditionally many underground collieries left a void after taking out the coal. As a result, almost all areas are facing subsidence. The entire stretch of Grand Trunk Road from Andal to Barakar passes through a subsidence-prone area. As per CMPDIL, there were 8 points of subsidence in the Sripur Area involving 1,046.92 hectares of land.^[10]

Accident[edit]

Amongst the major accidents in Indian coal mines in the post-independence period, only one has occurred in what is now the Sripur Area, On 14 March 1954, 10 persons were killed in an explosion of fire damp at Damra Colliery, then owned by Kalipahari Coal Comoany.^[11][12][13]

Migrants[edit]

Prior to the advent of coal mining, the entire region was a low-productive rice crop area in what was once a part of the Jungle Mahals. The ownership of land had passed on from local adivasis to agricultural castes before mining started. However, the Santhals and the Bauris, referred to by the colonial administrators as "traditional coal cutters of Raniganj" remained attached to their lost land and left the mines for agricultural related work, which also was more remunerative. It forced the mine-owners to bring in outside labour, mostly from Bihar, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. In time the migrants dominated the mining and industrial scenario. The pauperization and alienation of the adivasis has been a major point of social concern.^[6][14]

Transport[edit]

v t e Andal–Sainthia branch line
Legend
km Bardhaman–Asansol section Andal Marshalling Yard 0 Andal Bardhaman–Asansol section NH 19 Andal–Sitarampur loop line Singaran River 5 Kajoragram Khas Kajora Colliery 10 Siduli Siduli Colliery Shree Diamond Sitalpur Colliery 12 Ukhra Bankola Colliery Sankarpur Colliery South Samla Colliery Pandaveswar Colliery Pandaveswar Airfield Khottadih Colliery 20 Pandabeswar Ajay River 23 Bhimgara Junction 29 Hazratpur 33 Raswan 37 Barhragram 42 Lachhmanpur Road West Bengal Jharkhand border 49 Palasthali Hinglo River 29 Panchra 35 Dubrajpur Bakreshwar River 42 Chinpai Bakreshwar Thermal Power Station 45 Kahcujor 51 Jibdharpur 54 Siuri Prantik-Siuri line (planned) 63 Kunuri 65 Mahishadahari Halt 69 Kherua Sahibganj Loop 73 Sainthia Junction Sahibganj Loop km

The Andal–Jamuria–Sitarampur branch line passes through the Sripur Area.^[15]

References[edit]