Sundargarh: Jamkhani coal block, a greenfield mine in Odisha’s Sundargarh district allotted to Vedanta Limited, is all set to start operation in August with successful completion of meeting with villagers on Saturday.
The meeting, conducted at the project site, was attended by more than 400 villagers of four villages. The villagers voted in favor of the first greenfield coal mine in private sector.
Many villagers came forward with their demands regarding land, R&R, employment and CSR activities, while others submitted their grievances and suggestions in writing to Sub-Divisional Magistrate.
The Sub-Divisional Magistrate described the objective and procedure followed by the Vedanta to start the mine. He said the entire land and R&R compensations have been completed for the mine and Vedanta Limited is set to start mining as all approvals from Central and state governments have been accorded to the company. He further invited suggestions, opinions and demands from affected families and individuals present in the meeting.
Vedanta officials present in the meeting responded to the demands and assured the villagers of looking into the demands as per direction of district administration. The company has begun CSR activities and is committed to further continue the same, they said.
It may be noted that Vedanta Limited had entered into a Coal Mine Development and Production Agreement (CMDPA) with the Central government represented through the Ministry of Coal and subsequently received vesting order in respect of Jamkhani Coal Mine on February 10, 2020 from the Nominated Authority, Ministry of Coal.
To operationalise the mine, Vedanta has recently obtained all required clearances from State and Central governments including transfer of land measuring 2143 acre of Jamkhani Mine by IDCO which was previously acquired by Bhushan Power & Steel Limited. Land compensation and R&R was completed to a large extent by Bhushan Power & Steel before the block got de-allocated by order of the Supreme Court in September, 2014.
The district administration conducted a series of meetings with villagers with the latest one on Saturday.
