ROURKELA: The State Government has cleared hurdles in record time to ensure restoration of production in three closed mines of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and one of the State-owned Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) in Sundargarh and Keonjhar districts.
Sources said the Barsuan Iron Mines (BIM) and Kalta Iron Mines (KIM) under the Raw Materials Division (RMD) of SAIL in Koida mining circle of Sundargarh district along with the Bolani Iron Mines of RMD in Keonjhar district were reopened on Saturday, while the iron ore mine of OMC in Sundargarh was reopened on Friday.
On the order of the Supreme Court, 27 manganese and iron ores mines in the two districts were closed from May 17 while 26 applications for second Renewal of Mining Lease (RML) were pending. However, fate of the rest private sector mines remains uncertain as their RML applications are scrutinised at the government level.
Welcoming the move, vice-president of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) Bishnu Mohanty on Sunday demanded early restoration of normalcy in rest mines as thousands of contractual mining and transport workers are sitting idle.
Holding the State Government responsible for the situation, members of CITU and CPM had staged demonstrations at Koida and Rourkela. CPM’s Bonai MLA Laxman Munda also resorted to a day-long hunger strike in front of the State Assembly for early action on the issue on May 27.
Deputy Director of Mines, Koida, Mihir Senapati said the two mines of SAIL and one of OMC in Sundargarh have received clearance for operations. The State Government is in the process of examining technical necessities of rest private mines and a final decision may be taken in a month, he added. Mining officials in Keonjhar also confirmed reopening of Bolani mines.
According to sources, the BIM and KIM produce three million tonnes of iron ore per annum (MTPA) to meet the raw material needs of the Rourkela Steel Plant with daily despatch of around 3.5 railway rakes. Similarly, the Bolani mine with four MTPA capacity caters to iron ore need of Durgapur Steel Plant.