Garbage from Adityapur has found a new address — the banks of Kharkai, which is one of the major tributaries of Singhbhum’s lifeline Subernarekha.
Two truckloads of domestic waste, equivalent to 400 cubic feet, are being emptied on the waterfront every day, turning the erstwhile oasis into an eyesore and olfactory challenge.

Chandrapura (Bokaro), Feb. 7: Five women — all illegal miners — were buried alive when the roof of a 15ft deep coal pit collapsed on them near Chandrapura junction, 35km from Bokaro steel city, this noon. Two others were injured in the incident. That the mishap took place at Jhungurghuttu, which is a stone’s throw from a bustling railway station and barely 400 metres from the Chandrapura police station, is a clear indication that illegal mining continues unabated in the coal belt region despite the administration’s tall promises to curb the menace.

A routine road trip from Ranchi to Dhanbad was enough for an aghast senior functionary of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to pull up Jharkhand for illegal mining and exploitation of tribals at the hands of the coal mafia. A source told The Telegraph that NHRC secretary-general Rajiv Sharma had visited the state in January.

New Delhi, Feb. 7 (PTI): The world’s largest steel maker ArcelorMittal, which was unable to get regulatory approvals for its proposed $30-billion investments, has for the time being put on hold its India business plans. “It is very difficult to say any thing... When will we start the construction, when we will really make progress. We are not even counting them in our business plans for the next few years,” ArcelorMittal chief L.N. Mittal said while announcing the results for 2011 in a conference call.

Coal belt police have pulled up their socks to wage war against drunken driving and illegal coal mining. Lakshman Prasad Singh, the coal belt DIG, while talking to reporters on Sunday said breath analysers from Dhanbad would be introduced in Bokaro to conduct surprise inspections. Those found guilty will be brought to book.

A large swathe of land at Baharagora in East Singhbhum would sport a green cover by mid-year. The state forest department has taken up a massive water conservation project in the rural block to curb the dependency of locals on forest produce. As part of the project, the forest department will dig four big ponds, two check dams and 32 loose-boulder check dams. Forty hectares of barren land would also be levelled for cultivation.

Ranchi, Feb. 3: Jharkhand is likely to join hands with three private companies to develop as many coal blocks in Ramgarh and Bokaro districts, a move that is expected to shore up revenues and boost industry confidence in the state. Joint ventures, or JVs, are likely to be inked with Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL), Adhunik Group and AMR Coastal Limited for mining and developing the coal blocks of Rabodh, Patratu and Pindra-Debipur allocated to Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation (JSMDC) by the Centre between 2006 and 2008.

A pair of elephant tusks, weighing approximately 32kg, were recovered late last night from Dalma sanctuary with the help of a sniffer dog and forest officials believe they have scuttled an attempt to smuggle out the ivory valued at Rs 40 lakh in the open market. While the forest department did not think the recovery was a pointer to an established poaching racket in the sanctuary, officials are, however, fairly certain there must have been an attempt to smuggle the tusks since they had been sawed off and later found 4km away from where they had spotted a dead elephant on January 29.

Ranchi, Jan. 29: The water resources department has sanctioned Rs 40.20 crore for the repair of a main canal and a branch of the Kanchi weir, which had collapsed in 2007 leaving 40,000 acres in Naxalite hotbeds of the district without irrigation facilities. The department has proposed to begin repair work on the main canal and the Baranda branch within the ongoing fiscal and complete the project in June in order to water the fields for a fruitful kharif crop in 125 villages.

Dhanbad, Jan. 29: More than 2,000 people displaced by the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) marched to Maithon’s BSK College Ground, 45 km from the district headquarter, today to take part in a public meeting organised by Adivasi Mahasabha, an organisation that has been fighting for the rights of the displaced for over a decade. Prominent social activists like Swami Agnivesh and Medha Patkar besides former Dhanbad MP Chandrashekhar Dubey joined the agitation, which started around 11am and continued for more than four hours.