​​​​​​​Angul, Jan 29: While a sudden and unnatural crater created in the Handidhua area in Talcher Town yesterday wreaked panic among the denizens, the affected local has cried for compensation and resettlement from the government, following the deformation.

Mentioning the area as almost porous and delicately fragile, Tusarkant Pradhan, Record of Rights(ROR) holder of the land where the giant subsidence took place last evening said, “ Following the alarming incident, the place and its surroundings are absolutely unsafe for habitation. As the ground here caves in all of a sudden creating hell-like craters, the lands are not even cultivable now.”

“We need collateral compensation against the affected land and a rehabilitation & resettlement package from the concerned institution that’s solely liable for the disaster”, Pradhan added.

Panic gripped the locals of Talcher Town on Wednesday as a large patch of ground caved in near the Handidhua area all of a sudden.

The deformation caused a deep trench measuring about 20-feet-deep and 15-feet wide, on the spot with furher cracks and fissures in and around, wreaking concern for the denizens.

According to reports, locals of Hanidhua area in the Talcher Town noticed an abnormal sound in the evening while a large patch of land was seen caved in following which a deep trench was formed in the ground all of sudden.

On being informed mines authorities and Police rushed to the spot and protected the area with fence and slabs, in order to prevent further accident.

The precise reason behind the incident is yet unclear. However, excessive underground mining activities and shabby vacuum management are feared to be the key factors behind the subsidence.

As the vulnerable spot is too closer to an underground mine and a number of opencast mines, which are almost dormant since years, locals urged the Directorate General of Mines Safety( DGMS) to look into the matter with utmost urgency.