Black smoke enveloped the sky as a massive fire broke out at an abandoned coal mine in Rajrappa area falling under Jharkhand's Ramgarh district.There was no casualty though.

This was on Monday morning when residents in the area claimed that the fire and the smoke smelt ‘toxic.’A community of coal miners are inhabitants of the area.

Some of them blamed the state administration and the Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) for the situation, alleging no cognisance was taken of their complaints when a minor fire was spotted underground a few days back.

When contacted,Ramgarh Deputy Commissioner Chandan Kumar said a team has been sent to the spot to douse the blaze.But the smoke continued to encounter the hot Sun till 3 P.M on April 21,2025.

PTI report quotes Chandan Kumar saying that a direction was given to douse the fire “ on a war footing” so that “the blaze can be arrested before it reaches the densely populated Bhuchungdih village in Chitarpur block.”

"We are monitoring the fire. Our officers are consulting mining experts of the CCL to find a solution to douse the blaze," he added.

Raju Mahto, a resident of Bhuchungdih village, said that if the fire is not doused immediately, villagers will have to flee their homes, according to the PTI report.

Another villager, Jeevan Mahto, said the fire at present is just 500 metres away from the village.

He said the villagers had spotted an underground fire a few days back and alerted local officials and the CCL.

"But, no one took cognisance of it," he alleged.

CCL General Manager of Rajrappa area Kalyanji Prasad said, "We have initially taken steps to minimise the flames by filling soil and sand. If it cannot be controlled, we will try to find another way.“