Production of coal at all the Mahanadi Coalfields limited (MCl) mines and its transportation by rail and road has been stopped due to the continuing labour unrest since November 29.
Consequently, over 200 loaded trucks, which had been loaded before Friday for moving outside, are lying stranded inside several coal mines for the last three days. The production of electricity by NTPC, TTPS and Nalco CPP has been hit as coal supply was stopped. Three production units of NTPC have already been wound up and if tension prevails for a day or two, the entire plant might go for shutdown, said an official of NTPC. Arvind Kumar, Regional Executive Director (RED) of NTPC told, “ We have zero stock of coal.
Three units have been shut down and other three units are running with minimum plant load. If the coal crisis continues, the plant will stop production which will create blackout in southern and North East States.”
In view of the situation, the employees and labourers of the coalmines are apprehending to lose their bread as works have been stopped.
Sources confided that some unseen forces are backing the two clashing groups for their vested interest. The coal mines are now completely controlled by the coal mafia, strongly supported by some political leaders and officials.
Source said a group of 120 workers are working at Jagannath railway siding 3 and 4 for loading of coal and other maintenance work for last 20 years on contractual basis, though the contract of loading has changed hands from time-to-time. Still, every new contractor never changed the workforce. But this year, a new precedent was set after new contractors Maa Hingula Transport, lift and Shift and Pawan Putra Private ltd decided to start the loading work without taking the past workers on October 7.
However, Talcher MlA Brajakishore Pradhan and the workers who were going to lose their job protested it. Situation turned worse when the MlA and about 104 male and 14 female workers who were agitating in the two railway sidings were arrested by local police.
It all happened when MlA Pradhan was attacked by some supporters of the present contractors at the loading site. Pradhan received injury in his neck, back and head. When the news reached his supporters, hundreds of them rushed to the spot and went on a rampage. They set fire to nearby motorcycles, four wheelers and pay loaders engaged at the railway sidings. The irate mob then proceeded to the Jagannath Project Area GM office and set it on fire. They also smashed optical fibre cables, computers and other accessories in the office worth crores of rupees.
Sub-Collector Saroj Samal on behalf of local administration tried to solve the problem thrice but as the new contractors and the agitating workers did not budge, it yielded no result.
Three FIRs were lodged at the colliery police station by then MCl contractors and workers supporting the MlA. Angul police have brought MlA Braja Kishore Pradhan from Bhubaneswar to Angul for interrogation on the massive violence at Talcher coal mines on Friday.
Talcher independent MlA Braja Pradhan was later arrested. As his bail petition rejected by court, he has sent to jail. The police claimed Pradhan is the prime instigator of the flare-up.
Earlier, the police had also detained the MlA and his 48 supporters on Thursday, just before the day of massive violence but had freed them on the same day.
Meanwhile, local intelligentsia has attributed the mayhem to inaction of the police and administration. lawlessness and complete failure of law and order situation has lead to Mafia Raj in the area, it said.
In the meantime, the MCl authority has tried their best to start mining from Hingula, Bhubaneswari and lingaraj Mines. MCl CMD AK Sahay while strongly denouncing the massive violence at Talcher, told that the unprecedented violence and lawlessness has affected the mining activities. This will also affect industrialization of the State, he cautioned.