Sambalpur/Bhubaneswar: Rescuers have recovered the fourth body after 14 days of the coal mine accident at Bharatpur open cast coal mines in Talcher coalfields of MCL Monday.
The body of the fourth missing person has been identified as Ramesh Dash, security guard of DK Dana Security Agency, a contractor in the mines, said an MCL official. Dash’s mutilated body parts had earlier been recovered from the debris Saturday, said an official.
With this, the death toll has increased to four while nine were injured following a strata collapse at the Bharatpur mines July 23.
Meanwhile, the coal production and despatch continued to suffer on the 13th consecutive day as the locals are on a strike since July 24 demanding a safety inspection of entire Talcher coalfields along with a high-level probe into the incident and adequate compensation to the deceased families.
The employees of MCL along with trade union leaders Monday met Talcher sub-collector and submitted a representation to restore normalcy in Talcher coalfields and resume production in the remaining eight unaffected mines of the company, the official said.
Later, a tri-partite meeting with the Sub-Collector was held with the striking villagers and MCL’s general managers which ended inconclusive with the villagers sticking to their demand of a permanent job in MCL along with Rs one crore as compensation, an MCL Spokesperson said.
MCL has offered compensation as per the Employee Compensation Act besides a contractual job as governed by the high powered committee, he said.
The stalemate in Talcher Coalfields has not only affected the livelihood of around 40,000 people, but has also reduced share in District Mineral Fund (DMF) and CSR contribution for the villagers of Talcher, the spokesperson claimed.
The blockade has also resulted in closure of units of the power houses which were dependent on Talcher Coalfields for the supply of the dry fuel, the spokesperson claimed.
Meanwhile, the cumulative losses up to August 4 stands at 23.14 lakh tonne of coal, 26.64 lakh tonne of Despach, 22.56 lakh cubic metre of over burden removal, loss to the company stands at Rs 234.92 crore, loss to the Central and state exchequer at Rs 152.06 crore and a generation Loss of 3672.31 million units, he claimed.
The cessation of work has badly affected power production in the state and many employees, contractual workers, contractors and petty traders dependent on the Bharatpur Mine are incurring losses. Similarly, labourers from nearby villages are being deprived of their daily wages.
According to MCL sources, the losses due to disruption of coal production stand at Rs 213.60 crore till Sunday. Cumulatively, the company has incurred production loss of 21.04 lakh tonne, despatch loss of 24.20 lakh tonne and over burden removal of 20.54 lakh cubic metre of coal.
Reportedly, MCL was the second-largest coal producer in the country, with 144 million tonne coal production in the fiscal 2018-19.
NTPC’s Kaniha plant has also closed four of its six units while Talcher Thermal Power Plant (TTPS) is running at 50 per cent of Plant Load factor(PLF).
PNN