PEDDAPALLI/BHADRADRI-KOTHAGUDEM
Incessant rains over the past five days have dealt a major blow to coal production in almost all the opencast projects (OCPs) of the State-owned Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL).
The intense spell of heavy rains that battered the coal belt region, spanning six districts, last week virtually stalled coal production as well as overburden removal in as many as 19 OCPs spread across 11 areas of the SCCL. The extensive water-logging and slushy conditions in almost all the OCPs hampered blasting operations, a vital component of surface mining, and also hit operations of heavy machinery, sources said.
According to SCCL sources, the SCCL’s OCPs together suffered a coal production loss to the tune of 4 lakh tonnes in the past one week. However, the loss suffered by the coal mining giant in terms of coal output and overburden removal owing to heavy rains is estimated to be several times more.
