Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd, can now heave a sigh of relief. The Jharkhand High Court on Friday ordered status quo on the closure of 22 operational mines of the public sector unit till August 30 for violation of green norms as ordered by the State Pollution Control Board last week.
Challenging the order in the high court, BCCL said the order does not comply with the state pollution law. It added the company had not received the closure order and, hence, the mines were not closed.
Contesting the BCCL arguments, state advocate-general Anil Kumar Sinha said the order was very much in accordance with the law and the mines in question were operating without permission. He said despite several notices, the company neither replied nor followed the pollution norms.
After hearing the arguments, justice Poonam Srivastava asked the state government to file a counter affidavit on the petition of BCCL.
The underground and open cast mines, which were ordered for closure are Phularitarh, Muraidih, Shatabdi, Govindpur, Gajlitarh, Mudidih, Tetulmari, Senara, Bansjora, Gondudih, Khas, Khushanda, Ena, Kujama, Ginagarha, Bahra South, Gopalichak, Muridih, Dhaibari and Bahra North.
Source said the company would lose production of 40,000 tonnes each day if the order was implemented. BCCL had made a turnover of Rs 5,000 crore in 2009-10 and posted a profit of Rs 800 crore, which was the highest ever since its inception in 1972.
