Mining activities at Talcher coalfields in Odisha, which came to a near grinding halt on November 28 following violence by a group of labourers, will resume in full scale from Wednesday.
Operated by Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Coal India Ltd, Talcher, which has a capacity to produce 70 million tonnes (mt) a year, caters to at least two power stations of NTPC Ltd and state generation utilities of Tamil Nadu and National Aluminium Co Ltd.
Production was nearly stopped after a dispute over recruitment of labourers by a contractor appointed by CIL snowballed into widespread violence leading to damage of CIL properties.
According to MCL sources, the company has lost nearly 1 mt of production due to work stoppage since November 28. Overall, the dispute that originated on October 8 had cost CIL nearly 3 mt worth of sales, amounting to Rs 266 crore.
In a meeting early this morning, local MLA Braja Kishore Pradhan agreed to allow smooth functioning of the mines except a railway loading facility that handles nearly 30,000 tonnes of coal a day. Pradhan, better known as Bapu Pradhan, is the leading force behind the dominant Mahanadi Contractual Workers Union that had disputed the recruitment by the CIL contractor for repair and maintenance of the railway siding.
“The dispute has cost us an estimated Rs 266 crore worth of revenue so far. The losses will keep mounting in the days to come till smooth functioning of the railway siding is resumed,” an MCL spokesperson told Business Line .