Singareni says Naini Coal Block a boon

Hyderabad: The Singareni officials said that the Naini Coal Block, which produces one million tonnes of coal per annum, is a boon for the company.

Although the Central Coal Ministry allotted this coal block to Singareni in 2015, there has been a lot of delay in various types of permissions till now. From time to time submission of required documents and deposit of dues are going on from Singareni without any errors. In this context, stage-1 and stage-2 permissions were obtained for the acquisition of the mine’s forest land.

Before allotment of 783.27 hectares of forest land allotted to Singareni organisation as part of stage-2 permissions, the trees in that place are to be enumerated. The Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka requested the Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi of the state that after counting the trees, they should be removed and the land should be handed over to the Singareni. He responded positively to this and ordered the concerned officials to take action.

In connection with the Naini coal block, a rehabilitation committee meeting was to be held under the auspices of the district collector to discuss the R&R to be paid to the villagers while a village was to be relocated. It was explained that this should be carried out immediately and the rehabilitation programmes decided in the Committee and the development programmes of the area would be undertaken by the Singareni. The Odisha CM also responded positively to this.

The Naini Coal Block requires a total of 912.79 hectares of land in which only 17.69 hectares of government land was available. This land was also requested to be transferred to the Singareni immediately. Singareni has decided to transport the coal produced from the lock through the nearest railway siding called Jarpada. The transport contract was also finalised in this regard. However, widening and strengthening of the narrow R&B road from Chandi Pada village adjacent to Naini coal block to Jarpada Siderug is to be done. In this regard, the company has already paid Rs 35.23 crore to the R&B department. The works have not started. Therefore, the Dy CM requested that the road construction work should be taken up and completed immediately. The Odisha CM also responded positively to this and gave instructions to the concerned officials.