WARANGAL: Arrangements are on to launch the longwall mining at Bhupalpalli coal belt area. In the new method, machines will be used to secure coal and this will give the Singareni Colleiries Company Limited (SCCL) the credit of introducing latest technology in mining in the country.
The Union Revenue Department had accorded permission to the Singareni Colleiries Company Limited (SCCL) for practising longwall method of mining. There are no longwall coal mines the whole of Asia except in China.
The Singareni coal belt area in the State includes Mandamarri, Godavarikhani, Kotthaguda and Bhupalpalli areas and it has been confirmed that quality coal is available only in Bhupalpalli alone. And for the same reason, the Singareni Colleries has been attempting to launch the project there for the past five years.
The SCCL has been waiting for the consent of the concerned authorities to take up the project at 8,8A incline near Baswarajupalli in Ghanapuram mandal limits.
Meanwhile, the mines in Baswarajupalli village have been readied for launching the project at a cost of Rs 500 crore. The mines have been dug deep till coal could be reached and infrastructure has also been developed.
But the Singareni workers unions have been opposing the project fearing loss of jobs and drop in need for human resources if the latest technology was used in mining. In the longwall method, machines would replace 3,000 workers, they lamented. However, the Singareni management is not caring for the woes of the workers in the wake of high demand for the coal produced through longwall compared to that done manually.
``The workers unions are unnecessarily getting panic.
There would be no loss to them,’’ said a Singareni official to this paper. The SCCL, had earlier surveyed Godavarikhani for studying the favourability of conditions for taking up the project. However, finding it difficult, they chose Bhupalpalli.