Bhubaneswar: Aug 4: Coal mining and dispatch operations continued to remain paralysed at the Talcher Coalfields of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) for the 12th consecutive day on Sunday. MCL’s coal value loss stands at Rs 213.60 crore.
The agitation by the locals following the Bharatpur Open Cast Project (OCP) accident on July 23 has also impacted power generation as power producers are facing coal shortage.
“As on date, the company has incurred cumulative operational losses of up to 21.04 lakh tonne of coal, 24.20 lakh tonne of dispatch and 20.54 lakh cubic metre of over burden removal while its coal value loss stands at Rs 213.60 crore,” said an MCL statement.
At least four were feared dead and nine were injured following a strata collapse at the Bharatpur mines on July 23 night.
The agitating locals are demanding a safety inspection of the entire Talcher Coalfields along with a high-level probe into the incident and adequate compensation to the deceased person’s families.
The stoppage of Talcher mines by villagers has indirectly affected power generation loss to the tune of 3339.04 million units, as power producers are facing shortage of coal, the statement said.
NTPC’s Kaniha plant has closed four of its six units while the Talcher Thermal Power Plant (TTPS) is running at 50 per cent of plant load factor (PLF).
Major power plants in southern India, namely APGENCO and APPDCL in Andhra Pradesh, TANGEDCO, Neyvelli Lignite Corporation and NTEL (a joint venture of NTPC and TNEB) in Tamil Nadu, and KPCL in Karnataka have reported depleting stocks of coal and are on the verge of closing their units, the MCL statement said.
MCL, with 144 million tonne coal production in 2018-19, is the second-largest coal producing subsidiary of Coal India Limited, contributing 20 per cent to the total dry fuel produced in the country. (IANS)
