Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), which had shut down its six mines in Ib valley region over the weekend following an order of the state steel and mines department, has moved the Supreme Court seeking stay on the government directive.
The coal company is particularly encouraged as in a similar case earlier the apex court had granted it relief. MCL is the second largest subsidiary of Coal India Ltd (CIL) in terms of coal output. “(The) company expects that the operation of mines in Orient area of Ib valley will restart within a week, as sudden closure of mines not only affects the moral of employees, who perform their duty in tough working conditions, but also has a negative impact on overall performance of the company and poses danger to the safety conditions of mines,” said a company release.
The Deputy Director of Mines (DDM), Sambalpur, on September 1 had ordered MCL to shut down its six mines spread over nine lease hold areas, that included five underground mines and one open cast mine, comprising five per cent of its daily coal output of close to 200,000 tonne.
Most portions of these mines are coming under forest areas, for which the coal miner do not posses permission from the environment department and hence does not have the right to mine the deposits, the government order said.
MCL explained that it has already sent the necessary documents to the state environment department long ago and blamed the delay at the government level in processing the clearances for this logjam.
“After the forest laws came into place, we prepared documents accordingly and have sent it to Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF), Bhubaneswar. We will get the forest clearance only when the state CCF sends his recommendations to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) ,” said J K Tiwari, director, production, MCL.
MCL has 33 coal mining leases in Odisha and produces over 100 million tonne coal a year from these mines located in central and western part of the state. The firm has been accused by state government-controlled power companies and other coal consumers for supplying inferior and insufficient coal. It feeds a number of thermal power stations in and outside Odisha and several metal industries.
