ANGUL : Demanding jobs in lieu of their land, villagers of Joragadia paralysed operations in four coal mines at Talcher on Thursday.
The agitators also locked the general manager offices of Jagannath and Bharatpur protesting the delay in provision of jobs. The mines affected by the protest are Bhubaneswari, Anant, Jagannath and Bharatpur.
Official sources said the four mines together produce over two lakh tonne of coal every day. These mines supply coal to key power utilities of the country including NTPC and Nalco.
The sources further informed that notification of section 4 (1) of the Land Acquisition Act was issued in Joragadia in August last year. However, notifications on sections 9 (1) and 11 (1) are yet to be issued in the village.
Requesting anonymity, a senior coal official of Jagannath Area said the land acquisition process in the village has already been initiated. To complete the process, notification of all the three sections needs to be issued. The state government and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) are on the job to execute the land acquisition process, he added.
On the day, MCL authorities held discussion with the agitating villagers but it yielded no result. Till reports last came in, operations in the four mines continued to remain paralysed due to the protest.
Talcher sub-collector Manoj Tripathy said the administration is keeping a close watch on the situation.
“Talks were held with the agitators today but to no avail. Another meeting between villagers and MCL authorities will be convened on Friday to sort out the issue.”
Sources said grievances of mining-hit villagers over employment and land compensation have always existed. In absence of any mechanism to manage these grievances, frequent agitations are takeing place in Talcher Coalfield which accounts for 60 per cent coal production of MCL.
The shutdown of four mega mines during the terminal period of the financial year is likely to cost the MCL dearly.