It may surprise anyone, but it’s true: Even a goat can cost you Rs 2.68 crore! The Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) on Monday suffered this huge cost on account of stoppage of coal transportation and despatch work at Jaganath Sidings No. 1 & 2 in the Talcher coalfields after a mob from Chatia Hurtings village created ruckus and protested against killing of a goat in an accident with a coal transportation tipper in the prohibited mining area.
Jaganath Sidings 1 & 2 were forcibly stopped by villagers at 11 am demanding Rs 60,000 as compensation for the goat’s death.
Operations could be resumed only after 14:30 pm with intervention of senior civil and police officials. And this three-and-a-half-hour stoppage by the villagers caused an estimated loss of Rs 1.4 crore on account of coal transportation to the sidings and Rs 1.28 crore on account of despatch through railways.
Besides the estimated loss of Rs 2.68 crore to the MCL, the Government exchequer also suffered a loss to the tune of about Rs 46 lakh due to this unprecedented stoppage.
The MCL has lodged an FIR with the local police for necessary action against those who created the illegal obstruction.
As an MCL official pointed out, such illegal obstructions to coal mining operations not only play a negative role in the economic growth of a nation but also put hurdles to the country’s aspiration of becoming a 5-trillion dollar economy.
While coalmines are restricted working zones where only the people authorised, trained and having knowhow of the mines enter to perform their jobs, the entry to mine areas is totally prohibited for general movement.
However, some people from the peripheral localities deliberately trespassing into the coalmine and overburden areas to pick coal, firewood and even graze their livestock remains a cause of concern, said the official.