Operations in MCL coal mines in Odisha’s Talcher belt yet to resume

Odisha Sun Times Bureau

Sambalpur, July 13

The impasse at the coal mines operated by the Mahanadi Coal fields Ltd (MCL) in the Talcher coal fields in Odisha’s Angul district continues even as the PSU offered to reinstate all the 122 project affected local workers, whose jobs were terminated earlier for refusing to vacate their homes inside the project area.

Sources said the sacked workers have refused to join work until the company pays them the salaries for the months of May and June when they were out of work. However, the officials of the company said, as a PSU they have to abide by the no-work, no pay order of the Supreme Court.

The MCL, a subsidiary of Coal India, in line with the decision taken at a tripartite meeting under the aegis of the Angul district administration  on July 6, had made the reinstatement offer on Saturday, July 12.

However, although the company had issued letters to all the 122 terminated former employees of Hensmul village in Talcher to return to their jobs, none of them has reported for duty till 10 AM on Sunday, the company said in a release here today.

The stand-off  has resulted in a complete halt to mining operations in three coal mines in the Jagannath mining area. thus leading to the deepening of the crisis in supply of coal to end users, particularly the power plants in southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, company sources said.