Sambalpur: Union minister of Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy virtually inaugurated Mahanadi Coalfields Limited’s (MCL) Coal-Neer Plant, a packaged drinking water plant at Handidhua Underground Mine in Odisha’s Talacher.
Under the Ministry of Coal’s ‘Mission GREEN’, MCL has transformed the Handidhua Underground Mine into a sustainable community asset by setting up the Coal-Neer Plant.
The mine, which remained closed since 1998, will now be utilised for converting mine water into safe and affordable packaged drinking water for local communities. The sourced mine water will be purified retaining the natural healthy minerals using CDI (Capacitive Deionization) technology, developed by IIT Madras.
The 100 KLD Handidhua Coal-Neer Plant will cater to the drinking water needs of around 8,975 people and facilitate livelihood opportunities for women associated with 41 Self Help Groups.
Minister of State for Coal & Mines Satish Chandra Dubey, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology Jitendra Singh, Secretary of Coal ministry Vikram Dev Dutt, Additional Secretary Rupinder Brar, Coal India Limited Chairman B. Sairam and MCL CMD Uday A Kaole were present in New Delhi during the inauguration ceremony held on July 22.
Among those present at the plant site were Talacher MLA Braja Kishore Pradhan, Anugola MLA Pratap Chandra Pradhan, Chhendipada MLA Agasti Behera, MCL Director (Technical) S.K. Jha, MCL Chief Vigilance Officer S.S. Nayak, GM-Talacher Area D C Kundu, GM-CSR Jyotirmay Sinha, Talacher Sub-Collector Ashish Ranjan Sahoo.