BMS launches 5-day strike at mines

JHARSUGUDA/TALCHER: Coal production and dispatch in two open cast mines of Lakhanpur area of MCL in Jharsuguda was forcefully stopped by Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) members as they launched their five-day strike on Monday, protesting 100 pc FDI in mining.

BMS, the second largest trade union in the country, has called for a five-day strike in coalfields to oppose 100 per cent FDI in coal sector.Other trade union organisations like INTUC, AITUC, CITU and HMS will observe a day-long strike on Tuesday.

Due to the protest, coal production in Lakhanpur and BOCP open cast mines in Lakhanpur area and transportation of 10 coal racks was stopped.

General Manager of Lakhanpur area of MCL, AK Singh said 60,000 tonnes of coal could not be produced from the open cast mines and it faced a loss of around `7 crore. If the strike continues, many companies including OPGC will suffer loss as they are dependent on Lakhanpur mines.

Production and dispatch of coal from Talcher coalfield also came to a grinding halt due to the five-day strike of BMS that began here on Monday.

Operation in all the eight coal mines was paralysed due to the strike. These mines together produce around two lakh tonne of coal per day. Sources said coal from Talcher, which supplies the mineral to eight States, was not dispatched to any power station including the plants of NTPC, Nalco, GMR, JSPL and JITPL on the day.

BMS leaders Arun Kumar Pradhan, Sanjaya Kumar Majhi, Ranjan Kumar Behera, Badal Maharana and Sudarshan Mahanty led the protest in the mines here on the day.