Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), the Jharkhand based subsidiary of Coal India Limited has been meeting energy requirements of Country, while the commissioning of Tori-Shivpur Rail double line has given momentum to extract coal from mineral-rich Jharkhand.
CCL is committed to fulfil Prime Minister’s vision of “Atma Nirbhar Bharat” with support from Coal Minister, Prahlad Joshi and guidance from Coal India Chairman, Pramod Agarwal.
Tori-Shivpur Rail double rail line (44 Km), lifeline of CCL was constructed by East Central Railway on deposit term basis. Total project cost was Rs 2692 crores. The Tori- Shivpur rail line was started in the year 2000 and was scheduled to come up in 2006.
As a result of top priority accorded by the Ministry of Railways and pro active support of the State Government. The long delayed project was commissioned in 2018. The rail line facilitates coal evacuation from Magadh (51 MTY) and Amrapali ( 25 MTY) OC . In future coal of mega projects of Sanghmitra ( 20 MTY) and Chandragupta ( 15 MTY) will be evacuated using this railway line.
Prior to operationalization of line, coal excavated from Magadh and Amrapali had to be moved to Tori Siding and Rajdhar Siding situated at a distance of about 75 Km and 22 Km respectively for onward dispatch by rail. Coal dispatch over such a long distance by road led to dust generation, increased GHG emission and made the coal costly for consumers. In the absence of proper evacuation arrangements at times production of Magadh and Amrapali had to be restricted.
After operationalisation of the line in a phased manner, the company has coal dispatch sidings at Bukru and Balumath catering to Magadh OC, Phulbasia catering to Amrapali OC and Magadh OC and Shivpur catering to Amrapali OC. Owing to shorter lead, multiple sidings and operational ease for Railways for supply and drawing of rakes, dispatch of coal has increased exponentially.
A total of 29 rakes were loaded from Shivpur Tori Line on March 21. With construction of the 3rd line of Tori-Shivpur section on the anvil and several other infrastructure developments in the pipeline, evacuation of coal is expected to improve further from the mines of NK coalfield. It is further stated that a record high of 80 rakes were loaded on March 26 which is the highest for any single day since inception.
In a step towards environmentally friendly seamless mechanized transportation of coal, CCL awarded contracts for execution of four First Mile Connectivity projects-Magadh, Konar, Amrapali and North Urimari- after receiving the necessary green clearances.
FMC refers to mechanised transportation of coal from pitheads to dispatch points through conveyor belts.