Coal India unit resumes operations in Odisha coalfields

Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), a unit of the state-run Coal India Ltd, on Thursday resumed operations at its key coalfields in Odisha that were shut a day ago following protests by locals, a company official said.

The mining operations resumed at the Talcher Coalfields in Angul district, about 170 km from here, after company authorities said they will offer jobs to the families of Bhalugadia village located near the mines within a month, the company official told IANS.

Residents of Bhalugadia were staging a road blockade near MCL's Hingula mines in the area for more than three weeks demanding jobs in the company.

As a result, the operations at the Hingula mines had been affected and the company was losing 10,000 tonnes of coal daily since April 15.

Mining operations in the entire Talcher Coalfields in Odisha were totally stopped on Wednesday after local people forced a shut down at all the mines in the area to support the demand of the residents of Bhalugadia, he said.

MCL, with its headquarters in Burla town of Sambalpur district about 340 km from here, supplies coal to several power companies in southern India and Odisha, including the state power utility NTPC, Talcher Thermal Power Station and aluminium maker Nalco.

The Talcher Coalfields which produce about a quarter million tonnes of coal daily from all the mines including Hingula had produced 71 million tonnes coal during the last financial year, he said.