Coal news and updates

MCL Oustees Stall Coal Production

Coal production and dispatch from Hingula and Balaram coal mines here has been stopped by MCL oustees since Friday.

Sources said villagers of Solada, who lost their land to the coal mines, stopped coal production over job demand. The two mines normally produce 40,000 tonnes of coal per day. Three months back, a meeting between the local administration, MCL management and the oustees had taken place where it was decided that the company would provide 500 jobs to eligible Solada villagers in lieu of their land. Villagers alleged that the process of providing them employment is yet to begin due to the indifferent attitude of the MCL management. Land acquisition for the mines had started in 2004 and was completed in 2011 but land losers are yet to be rehabilitated, they alleged.

Talcher Collector, SB Mishra said a timeline was finalised between the MCL management and the oustees in the meeting to meet the demands of the villagers. As the demands have not been met, villagers decided to resort to stir.

Police have been deployed at the two mines to prevent any untoward incident.

On Friday, the Union Coal Minister Piyush Goyal had announced to increase the annual coal production from Talcher to 300 million tonne (MT) from the current 71 MT.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com