Barapukuria Coal Mine is run by the Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited. Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited is a subsidiary of the state owned

Petrobangla PetroBangla (Bangladesh Oil, Gas & Mineral Corporation; bn, পেট্রোবাংলা) is a government-owned national oil company of Bangladesh. It explores, produces, transports, manages and sells oil, natural gas and other mineral reso ...

. The mine is located at

Parbatipur upazila Parbatipur ( bn, পার্বতীপুর, Parbatīpur) is an upazila (sub-district) of the Dinajpur District in northern Bangladesh, part of the Rangpur Division. It is home to the only mine in Bangladesh, the Barapukuria coal mine. Histo ...

Dinajpur Dinajpur ( bn, দিনাজপুর ) is a city and the District headquarters of Dinajpur district situated in Rangpur Division, Bangladesh. It was founded in 1786. It is located 413 km north-west of Dhaka in Bangladesh. It is bounde ...

. This is the lone active coal mine in Bangladesh.

History

In Pre-partition era of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, coal from

Garo hills The Garo Hills (Pron: ˈgɑ:rəʊ) are part of the Garo-Khasi range in Meghalaya, India. They are inhabited by the Garo people. It is one of the wettest places in the world. The range is part of the Meghalaya subtropical forests ecoregion. De ...

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of As ...

was transported and traded through East Bengal. Mining offices opened in Dhaka and trade was aided by British Rail network in India. In 1961 UN-Pak Mineral Survey Project started surveys in then East Pakistan (today Bangladesh) by

Geological Survey of Pakistan Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) is an independent executive scientific agency to explore the natural resources of Pakistan. Main tasks GSP perform are Geological, Geophysical and Geo-chemical Mapping of Pakistan. Target of these mapping are res ...

. In 1962 the survey found 1.05 million ton of coal in Jamalganj,

Sunamganj District Sunamganj ( bn, সুনামগঞ্জ) is a district located in north-eastern Bangladesh within the Sylhet Division. History In the ancient period, Sunamganj was part of the Laur Kingdom. After the conquest of Sylhet (Kingdom of Gauiurh) ...

. The next big discovery came in 1985 when

Geological Survey of Bangladesh Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB) is an national organization working in Geological activities in Bangladesh and is located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The incumbent Director General of Geological Survey of Bangladesh is Moinuddin Ahmed. History ...

discovered coal in Dinajpur. In 1989 a coalfield was discovered in

khalashpir Khalashpir is a populated area in Pirganj Upazila, Rangpur District Rangpur ( bn, রংপুর) is a district in Northern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Rangpur Division. Geography Under the Rangpur Division (one of eight divisions) compo ...

Rangpur District Rangpur ( bn, রংপুর) is a district in Northern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Rangpur Division. Geography Under the Rangpur Division (one of eight divisions) composed of eight districts of northern Bangladesh, the District of Rangpur ...

and another in 1995 in Dighipara by the Geological Survey of Bangladesh. Multinational

BHP BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

discovered Phulbari coalfield in 1997. Global Coal Management is waiting approval for the Phulbari coalfield. Bangladesh has an estimated 2 billion tonnes of coal in underground reserves in the Northwest region of the country.

Adverse Impact

The locals near the mine have reported damages to their houses. The water bodies near the mine have dried up. In response the government has acquired lands near the mine.

References

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History

Adverse Impact

References

See also