Coal being lifted from a pit in Salanpur, on the outskirts of Asansol town. The illegally mined coal being transported across the dry Ajoy river towards Birbhum. Pictures by Gour Sharma

Asansol, April 21: Looting of coal has become such a lucrative proposition for villagers in the Durgapur-Asansol coal belt that many of them have stopped taking up jobs under schemes for the poor.