ANGUL: For the past two days, the Hingula Open Cast Mine, generating 40,000 tonne coal per day, has come to a standstill due to protests by villagers of Gopal Prasad in Angul.With support of Talcher Surakshya Manch, an outfit of the ruling BJD, the agitating villagers have blocked coal production and dispatch from the mine, causing disruptions in the supply chain to NTPC Power Plant, JSPL, JITPL Power Plants, and other industries in the state.
As per the striking villagers, the exclusion of 443 structures out of 765 for compensation in the third phase of land acquisition by coal and local administrative authorities is not acceptable to them. The villagers demanded compensation for all structures built on their acquired land. According to a coal official, the exclusion decision was made by a sub-committee under the Talcher sub-collector.
Convenor of Talcher Surakshya Manch, Murali Sahoo said injustice has been done in compensating Gopal Prasad villagers for structures on their land. He asserted that the mine would remain closed until compensation included all relevant structures. Talcher sub-collector Manoj Tripathy said that a meeting at the collector level will be held to solve the problem.