Western Coalfields registers highest single day production amid nationwide lockdown

Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd, has registered highest ever single day coal production of 4.29 lakh tonnes on March 27 amid the countrywide lockdown to contain coronavirus.

Employees, currently 42,000, are working 24x7 in both underground & opencast coal mines to produce and despatch enough coal to its linked power plants, so that there should be no disruption in electricity supply in the country at present necessary to combat the menace of COVID-19, WCL said in a press release.

Coal Mining activity and its transportation has been declared as Essential Service during the lockdown due to COVID-19 outbreak.

"In line with other Essential Services and without affecting their morale under the present crisis, WCL with its 42,000 employees has registered highest ever single day coal production of 4.

29 lakh tonnes on March 27 2020. The last highest production registered by the company was 4.02 lakh tonnes on March 30, 2019," the release said.

WCL has already broke its earlier record on March 20 by surpassing 53.18 million tonnes produced during 2018-19.

The company is now heading to surpass its annual target of 56 MT for 2019-20.

WCL also surpassed its annual target of 2018-19 by registering a growth of over 15 per cent, release said.

WCL operates 55 mines in 10 areas spread over Maharashtra and MP.

" In order to provide safe work place to its employees during the threat of COVID19, all the areas are working hard to make available all precautionary measures required for safety of workers. Around 25,000 masks have been provided to the employees and further 10,000 to be distributed shortly," the company said.

WCL supplies 80 per cent of its production to power plants located in Central, Western and Southern India.

"WCL has been able to maintain sufficient coal stock at the above plants and continues to do so by dispatching more than 1.5 lakh tonnes of coal per day by Rail & Road mode during the present crisis also so that nation continues to be energised," it said.

It has also made provision of 75 beds in its 10 different area hospitals in both Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh for use of quarantine of suspected corona cases.

Doctors, Nurses & Para-Medical Staffs have been put on alert to deal any eventuality.