Villagers yesterday barricade the Dhaka-Dinajpur rail line at Barapukuria demanding rehabilitation and compensation for land subsidence due to underground coalmining.Photo: STAR

Villagers affected by land subsidence due to underground mining besieged Barapukuria Coal Mine Company Ltd (BCMCL) for an indefinite period from yesterday as their deadline for compensation and rehabilitation expired without any progress.
Thousands of villagers also blockaded roads and railway tracks with boulders and damaged a conveyer belt of the coalmine and several makeshift structures outside BCMCL premises.
The blockade has suspended rail communication between Rajshahi and Khulna and road communication between Phulbari and Parbatipur.
Meanwhile, the officials and employees of BCMCL remained confined inside the premises.
A large number of police have been deployed in and around BCMCL to avert further untoward incidents.
Jibon O Shampad Rakkha Committee, a platform of the affected villagers, submitted a memorandum to the BCMCL authorities on July 12 to meet their demands by July 15.
Ibrahim Khalil, convener of the committee, said the BCMCL authorities assured them of compensation but the process is yet to start.
Earlier on March 10, people of 15 villages including Kalupara, Bolorampur, Baiddanathpur, Barapukuria and Moupukur went on hunger strike demanding resettlement and compensation. They called off the strike as the authorities concerned assured them of compensation by March 30.
These people have been holding rallies, sit-ins and other agitation programmes to press home their demands for the last two years. But no progress is made in this regard except signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Jibon O Shampad Rakkha Committee and BCMCL authorities in May last year, alleged the villagers.
According to the MoU, the BCMCL would compensate around 2,400 families for the land subsidence due to underground mining at a premium price. However, the number of affected families has rose to 2,600 due to different accidents since the MoU was signed, which the BCMCL also agrees with.
Contacted, BCMCL Managing Director Md Quamruzzaman said the process of distributing compensation of Tk 72 lakh for crops has started from Sunday and the subsidence compensation of Tk 324 cr is under process.
Coal production of BCMCL has been suspended since May 11 last year following an accident there, which killed one person and wounded 18 miners including two Chinese.