Talcher coalfields register 8% negative growth, thanks to bandh
The villagers forcibly closed all the three mines under Jagannath Area of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) at Talcher coalfields, hampering production and supply of 1.1 lakh tonne coal a day to power plants.
Residents of Ekdal village, demanding employment benefit forcibly stopped coal mining and despatch operations at Jagannath OCP, Bhubaneswari OCP and Ananta OCP.
With this closure of the three mines, production and supply of more than 1.1 lakh tonne coal to the thermal power plants in a day was affected.
Ekdal village, along with nine other villages, was notified under CBA Act and the compensation was awarded as on January 6, 2018.
Of total awarded compensation of Rs 34 crore, Rs 27 crore have already been disbursed till now among the beneficiaries who have submitted their documents. While 268 eligible cases for employment are under process, rest 135 cases, which are coming under category IV and V of R&R Policy 2006 of the Government of Odisha, and therefore not eligible for employment, have resorted to stoppage of mining operations.
Against the strike notice submitted by these 135 villagers, the company had invited for them for a meeting at Jagannath Area headquarters but none turned up and resorted to stoppage of work causing an estimated loss of more than Rs 11 crore in a day.
Besides prolonged monsoon, the sporadic strikes and bandhs in the mines across the Talcher coalfields this year have deterred coal production and supply from the MCL.
Owing to unfavorable socio-political situation and frequent stoppages, the Talcher coalfields alone has registered a loss of 13 million tonne in coal production during the current financial year, with a negative growth of about 8 per cent as compared to same period previous fiscal 2018-19.