Rein in locals: Centre to State

BHUBANESWAR: Frequent breakdown of law and order in the colliery regions of the State has taken a toll on coal production prompting the Coal Ministry to approach the State Government for a solution. During June and August, the combined loss in coal production by Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) stood at a whopping 12 lakh tonne, the Ministry said in a recent letter. Most of the losses were caused by coal production held up by the agitating locals. Secretary, Ministry of Coal, Alok Perti in a letter to Chief Secretary BK Patnaik stated that June alone reported a loss of coal production to the tune of 5.77 lakh tonne with the cumulative loss of 18.12 lakh tonne. The loss in production, which led to dip in revenue, was caused by ‘disturbance created by the villagers’, the letter said. The month of August saw an increase in damage as coal production suffered a loss to the tune of 6.45 lakh tonne while the cumulative loss stood at 21.58 lakh tonne. During July, the loss, however, dropped to just about 60,000 tonne. The Ministry also cautioned the State Government that the loss in coal production caused serious loss of revenue to both the State and the Centre. The damage in June caused a loss of revenue to the tune of ` 6.09 crore to the State while the Centre lost about ` 8.57 crore. During August, Orissa lost ` 6.81 crore in revenue while the loss to the Centre was about ` 9.59 crore. Almost all of the 10 mines of MCL in Ib Valley, Lingaraj, Bharatpur, Basundhara, Jagannath and Hingula suffered losses most of which the Coal Ministry said were caused by locals. There were several instances of villagers blocking coal production by stopping mines operation demanding employment. In other cases, coal transportation was stopped and workshops and maintenance jobs were shut down by the agitators. Local women also stopped operation demanding drinking water. The Ministry has requested the State Government to instruct the local administration to help prevent such deterioration in law and order. Perti has also drawn attention of the Government to forestry clearance of 13 applications which have been pending before the State. While 12 applications are awaiting Stage-I clearance from the State Government, one is pending for Stage-II clearance. Besides, two applications are awaiting environment clearance from the State, the Coal Secretary said.