As the coronavirus threat persists in the coal belt region of the State, the trade unions operating in the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL)’s coal fields have stepped up their demand for conducting COVID-19 tests at the coal mines and introduction of insurance cover against the COVID-19 for the SCCL’s workforce.

The renewed demands come against the backdrop of the COVID-19 spreading in the SCCL’s coal mining areas spread across seven districts including Bhadradri-Kothagudem and Khammam.

The SCCL management on Tuesday announced a slew of measures to ramp up COVID-19 treatment facilities and set up dedicated quarantine centres in the area hospitals across the 11 coal mining areas of the company.

The trade unions of the coal belt region have stepped up their demands for scaling up the COVID-19 preventive measures in the coal fields as well as the residential colonies of the SCLL staff. The COVID-19 situation in some of the coal mines in the RG-I and a few other coal mining areas turned grim as an overwhelming majority of the workers stopped coming to the coal mines, which recorded a couple of coronavirus positive cases in recent weeks, said Singareni Collieries Employees Union (SCEU) General Secretary Manda Narasimha Rao.

The coal workers working in underground mines are more susceptible to the highly contagious virus due to the closed working arena, he pointed out, emphasising on the urgent need for providing COVID-19 screening facilities at all coal mines. The coal workers including the contract/outsourcing workers should be protected from the potential health hazard and their welfare should be given top priority in these turbulent times, he said.

The SCCL management should provide a life insurance cover of ₹ 50 lakh for the SCCL staff of the coal mines and various other departments against the COVID-19, Mr Rao demanded.