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Coal trouble: Assam tea growers’ cost to double

Producers plan to buy CIL’s e-auctioned coal after the mining ban in Meghalaya. Bringing coal through barges would cost R11,500/tonne against R7,600/tonne of Meghalaya coal. Power and coal account for 12% of the total tea production cost

At least 100 tea gardens in Assam’s Barak Valley region are suffering from want of coal following National Green Tribunal’s order banning coal mining in Meghalaya. Coal is required to run tea blending machines and the entire Barak Valley region was dependent on Meghalaya coal, since it was the closest source. Tea producers are now planning to buy Coal India’s (CIL) e-auctioned coal or import coal. But doing so would increase the cost of blending by more than double, PK Bhattacharjee, secretary general, Tea Producers Association, told FE.

The National Green Tribunal, in April this year, banned coal mining in Meghalaya in view of the land degradation and forest depletion that were taking place due to unscientific method of mining.

In Meghalaya, coal mining is not institutionalised and miners indulge in rat hole mining without taking mining lease from the government. Although the Meghalaya government has been trying to institutionalise mining since 2010, it has not been able to push through due to public resistance.

Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma said his government had engaged CIL to prepare a plan for institutional mining in the region and bring all mining activities in the state under the National Coal Mining (Conservation & Development) Act. A CIL official said a draft plan was submitted long back but the Meghalaya government didn’t take any action on it. The official said although coal mining is not institutionalised in the state, selling Meghalaya coal is not illegal.

Bhattacharjee said another closer source of coal for the region is Margarita but miners in Meghalaya are not allowing any transportation of coal through Meghalaya unless mining, in the way it has been going on in the state, is allowed.

The National Green Tribunal has formed an expert committee to oversee evacuation of coal from six districts of Meghalaya under strict environmental norms. It has given 21 point guidelines for coal transportation and has allowed 9 tonne to be loaded in each two axle truck from September 2. There are pit head stocks of around 3.1 million tonne at various coal mines of Meghalaya but miners are not allowing it to be evacuated. This is aggravating chances of mine fire in the state, Bhattacharjee said.

For supplying coal to the tea gardens, the Tea Producers Association is exploring the option of bringing e-auctioned or imported coal through barges of Central Inland Water Transport Corporation to the Barak Valley region taking the river route from Kolkata. Even by this route transportation would not be possible after October since draughts go down to a great extent, Bhattacharjee said adding that bringing e-auctioned coal through barges would cost R11,500 per tonne against R7,600 per tonne of Meghalaya coal. Power and coal account for 12% of the total tea production cost, he said.

Meghalaya’s coal reserves are one of the finest qualities in the country with low ash content, high calorific value and high presence of sulphur. Coal found in the region is primarily of sub-bituminous variety and has very good coking content with ash below 7-8%.

Sangma said Meghalaya has around 660 mt of coal reserves with the Garo hills having reserves of around 350 mt.