Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi have responded positively to the request of Singareni Collieries Company officials for the State’s cooperation for land acquisition and other permissions required for the mining at ‘Naini’ coal block.
SCCL Chairman and Managing Director N. Sridhar met the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his Chief Secretary at Bhubhaneshwar on Wednesday.
Mr.Sridhar explained to them that the Ministry of Coal allotted the Block situated at Angul district in Odisha to Singareni and requested the State government for its cooperation on issues relating to forest, transfer of revenue lands, rehabilitation and railway lines.
Of the 912.79 hectares of land required for the mine, 783.27 hectares are of forest land along with 129.52 hectares of land belonging to six villages and only 14 families needed to be rehabilitated, he said and sought permission for the land acquisition.
Mr.Sridhar also requested the the railway lines erected for other coal blocks be extended up to Naini coal block.
Naini Coal block which was scheduled to start next year would be a boon for the Singareni company which is making plans for production of 10 million tonnes of coal production every year from the 340 million tonnes of coal reserves.
Drilling has been taken up with two drills in the coal block area. All permissions with the help of the government and permissions from the Forest Department are expected to be obtained by March 2020 and coal production is to start by February 2021. Company is, however, planning to speed up the process and start production before time.
Mr.Vijaya Rao, General Manager, has been appointed as the supervising official for this mine and the progress is monitored every month. Social welfare activities have been taken up in the coal block affected villages like Thalipasi, Kudapasi, Kasidiha, Dourakhaman, Bheem Bhadrapur, Tentuloyi and Gopinadhpur.
Out of six villages, only 14 families from Thalipasi village would have to be rehabilitated and the company is taking necessary steps. Free driving and tailoring activities have already been taken up for the youth of nearby villages and clean water bores and water tankers are being provided, according to a release.
The Singareni CMD handed over a cheque of ₹1 crore to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for the CM’s Relief Fund to provide assistance in the areas affected by the recent heavy rains and floods. The SCCL had also sent rescue and medical teams which had provided services for 20 days. Mr.Patnaik thanked the Singareni for the gesture.
Along with CMD Sridhar, Advisor (Mining) D.N.Prasad, GM (Naini) Vijaya Rao and other officials met the Odisha Chief Minister.