Coal Min Seeks Naveen’s Intervention To End Talcher Coalfield Strike

New Delhi: The Centre has shot off a letter to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik requesting his intervention for a speedy resolution into the strike in Talcher Coalfields that has halted production and dried up coal supplies to several states.

Work in Talcher Coalfields of the state-run Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) has come to a grinding halt since last Friday after Talcher Surakshya Manch called an indefinite strike to press for their 16-point charter of demand.

“It (strike) has reached the stage wherein mines safety has been adversely affected and may worsen as the machine deployed in mines may get submerged due to stoppage of pumping operations,” Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said in his letter to the Chief Minister.

“This has already caused loss of coal production of more than 1 MT (million tonnes) at the rate of more than 3 lakh tonnes per day.”

Goyal noted that in an earlier letter to Patnaik, he had pointed out how the frequent disruption in mining operations in Talcher were adversely affecting the investment climate in Odisha.

Requesting the Chief Minister’s support to end the “impasse”, Goyal wrote: “By December 2018, MCL has already suffered production loss of nearly 20 MT, which has resulted in revenue loss of about Rs.1,130 crore to the government of Odisha.”

Director of MCL (Technical) O P Singh had also dashed off a letter to the Chief Secretary and the Home Secretary last week apprising them of the situation in Talcher. On laat Thursday, Collector Anil Kumar Samal had called a meeting of MCL authorities and leaders of the Manch to break the impasse.

Talcher Sub-Collector Paresh Chandra Nayak said it is a matter of regret that the strike was held despite the meeting with Collector. Efforts are on to end the blockade, he added.

Talcher Coalfield feeds coal to power stations in 10 States, including Odisha. It accounts for 60 per cent coal production of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL).