Dhanbad’s skies are choked with coal particles, and Jharkhand High Court is wielding the hammer of justice. Summoning a roster of top officials, the court seeks urgent fixes for the mining town’s air apocalypse.
Chief Justice M.S. Sonak’s bench, in a PIL probe, mandates April 2 presence of Deputy Commissioner, SSP, pollution control secretary, and municipal chief. BCCL CMD is roped in for pollution mitigation ideas.
The court voiced alarm at rock-bottom AQI, rampant illegal digs, and brazen coal trucking. Police drew flak for inaction amid health crises from dust inhalation.
BCCL shared mine-filling park projects and unreplied FIRs. Their suit annexed to petitioners’ main writ. Government affidavits hyped controls sans mining details.
Grameen Ekta Manch called out sham measures; no boots-on-ground wins. BCCL’s transport safeguards dismissed as inadequate.
As Dhanbad battles for breathable air, this judicial thrust promises reckoning. Officials now under the spotlight must deliver, or face contemptuous consequences in coal-shadowed Jharkhand.