Jharkhand's mining activities disrupted following Maoist threat

Palamu (Jharkhand), Aug 1 (ANI): The miners in Jharkhand's Palamu District abandoned their work following threats from the Maoists.

The people living in nearby villages have been working in the graphite mines of the region for over two decades, undisturbed.

"The villagers have been working in these mines from the last 20-22 years and they were never closed in between. A few days back, around 12-13 people came to the mine and asked us to close it," said Bhardu, a miner.

"People of at least 10-12 villages work here in this mine. There are around 300-400 people, who are now unemployed," he added.

The miners said on July 25, a few armed men came to the graphite mines and threatened the mineworkers to close them till further notice.

"Around 10-12 armed men came to the mines at night and asked us to stop the work, and close the mines. Since that day, the mines are closed and no work is going on. They said that till they don't give further orders these mines should not be open," said Sikander Singh, a miner.

With the shutdown of the graphite mines, the people living in the nearby villages are unemployed as the mines are the only source of living for these villagers.

Jharkhand is known for its rich store of minerals, like coal, iron ore, copper ore, bauxite, mica, graphite, kyanite, sillimanite and limestone, and it forms an integral part of the economy of Jharkhand.

The total value of mineral production is amounted to over Rs 30 billion. (ANI)