ANGUL: The 14-day bandh at Talcher Coalfields was called off on Tuesday following a tripartite meeting between the villagers and authorities of district and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL).
Compensation amount and job to the kin of deceased as well as safety in the mines were discussed at the meeting which was presided over by Additional District Magistrate Tapan Kumar Satpathy.
According to official sources, MCL was asked to pay Rs 30 lakh cash compensation to the four victim families but the company authorities agreed to pay as per rule and instantly paid cash compensation ranging between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 13 lakh to the families of the deceased. While the district authorities stated that MCL has agreed to pay Rs 30 lakh total compensation, MCL sources denied making such commitment at the meeting.
Similarly, on the job front MCL has agreed to provide good contractual job with monthly wages of Rs 20,000 to the family members of deceased and recommend MCL board and Coal India Limited for permanent job to the kin of the deceased. After the two agreements, the strike by people of four villager backed by BJD was called off.
Sources in MCL said, during the fortnight long strike the coal company lost more than 28 lakh tonne coal and Rs 256 crore. The strike was first called by BJP on July 24, after earth dump collapsed in Bharatpur mine at about 10.30 pm on July 23 killing four contractual workers and injuring nine others. Soon after BJP called off their eight-day-long strike, the villagers, allegedly backed BJD, had launched mine bandh stir paralysing coal production and dispatch from all the nine mines at Talcher.
The prolonged mine bandh had a disastrous impact on the country’s power sector where coal-stock depleted. Nearly 24 power stations spreading across nine states, including Gujurat and Tamil Nadu, are dependent on the coalfields here.
Timeline
On July 23 earth dump collapsed in Bharatpur mine killing four contractual workers and injuring nine
BJP first called the strike on July 24 and called off after 8 days
The villagers, allegedly backed by BJD, launched mine bandh soon after which continued till Aug 6
Coal production and dispatch from all the nine mines at Talcher paralysed
24 power stations in nine states dependent on the coalfields