Coal production in the government-owned Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL)’s 45 coal mines located across six districts came to a halt as the workers struck work from the first shift this morning in response to the 72-hour strike called by five Central trade unions and the TRS-affiliated Telangana Boggu Gani Karmika Sangham (TBGKS).
The three-day strike has been called by the JAC of all the trade unions of the SCCL setting aside ideological affiliations to protest the Centre’s decision to auction four coal blocks in the State for commercial mining.
The SCCL, the only State-owned coal mining company in south India, with a manpower of around 43,000, is likely to suffer coal production loss to the tune of little over 4.50 lakh tonnes during the three-day strike.
The SCCL management tried to avert the strike, but in vain. The premier coal mining company operating in the coal-rich Pranahitha-Godavari valley of the State has set itself an ambitious target of enhancing coal production to 850 lakh tonnes per annum within three years. The SCCL’s coal output target for the current fiscal is 680 lakh tonnes.
All the six underground coal mines and four OCPs in the Ramagundam region of the district wore a deserted look from the early hours of the day as an overwhelming number of workers, barring the essential staff engaged in safety and other emergency services, stayed away from work.
In a show of unity, members owing allegiance to the major trade unions including INTUC, AITUC and CITU took out rallies in Ramagundam, Bellampalli, Kothagudem, Bhupalpally and other areas to press for their foremost demand to delist the four coal blocks Kalyan Khani Block-6, Koyagudem Block-III, Sattupalli Block-III and Shravanapalli in the state from the Union Coal Ministry’s auction list.
The TBGKS members staged a demonstration in front of the SRP 3 and 3A incline underground mine in Srirampur area of Mancherial district demanding allocation of the four coal blocks in the State to the SCCL, which they claimed invested huge amounts on exploration of coal reserves in the four coal blocks.
Sources said that the overburden removal works were also hit in several OCPs as the outsourcing/contract workers too stayed away from work in response to the JAC’s call for three-day strike with a slogan to “Save Singareni.”
