TALCHER: Bharatpur coal mine of Nalco, which lifts around 55,000 tonnes per day, was paralysed on Wednesday by the agitating villagers of Nakaipasi here. Sources said the villagers launched the agitation demanding employment for local youths. Later, police arrested 40 agitators in the afternoon and cleared the obstruction for sometime. Following this, about 300 villagers, including women and children, rushed to the mine and stopped the work.
A colliery official said due to strike, not only the production was hit in the peak month of the year, but also coal supply to Nalco power plant was stopped completely. Nalco requires about 10,000 tonnes of coal per day to run its power plant.
Five platoons of police force have been deployed to maintain law and order, said Talcher SDPO Hemanta Kumar Panda.
Villagers alleged that they resorted to mines bandh as the coal company failed to provide them 468 jobs as promised.
The director, who looks after the rehabilitation, said, “There was a change in rehabilitation and resettlement guideline by the State Government recently and we are waiting for the next meeting of Rehabilitation and Peripheral Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC) on January 24 to clear their job demands.”
Talcher Sub-Collector Mihir Kumar Mahanty said a meeting was convened to sort out the issue, but the villagers refused to attend. However, efforts are on to hold another meeting on Thursday where top MCL officials will be present, he added.