Ex-MP Puglia demands CBI inquiry into WCL coal pilferage

Chandrapur: Former member of Parliament (MP) and Congress leader Naresh Puglia has filed a complaint regarding pilferage of coal from Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) mines in Chandrapur with the Union coal minister and chief minister (CM), and has demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter.
Puglia said coal mafia was looting the national wealth of coal from WCL mines and duping the state government of hundreds of crores of mining royalty.“Coal mafia spread across the WCL mines in the district is pilfering good quality coal in the name of road sale delivery orders (DOs),” he added.
The former MP said there have been multiple incidents of homicide and violence between gangs of coal mafia in the past. “State government is losing mining royalty to the tune of hundreds of crores thanks to this pilferage,” he added.
Puglia said coal mines in the district had provided mining royalty of Rs492.74 crore to the state exchequer in 2020-21. Out of this royalty, 30% share (Rs147.82 crore) is deposited into the district mining royalty fund, which is used for development works in the area.
Terming Chandrapur, Yavatmal and Nagpur as mineral-rich districts, the Congress leader said the trio collectively provides mining royalty of nearly Rs1,500 crore to the state every year. “However, thanks to large-scale corruption in WCL mines, coal mafia working hand-in-glove with officials is taking away nearly 35% of good quality coal.”
The police department and district administration were helpless in the matter, he alleged in his letter to the coal minister, as coal mafia “has the backing of bigwig politicians in the district”.
Puglia highlighted the goof-ups in lifting of coal at Nandgaon incline coal handling plant that led to escalation of tension in mine premises on Tuesday in his complaint. He alleged that similar instances were occurring in mines all over the district, and demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter.
He also urged CM Uddhav Thackeray to involve police and revenue department in keeping a watch over the allocation of delivery permits to bidders by WCL, and ensure that due royalty is recovered against every ton of coal excavated from the mine.