Sundargarh: Mining at the Jamkani coal mines in this district has started as issues related to compensation for affected families for the project, have been resolved, an official informed Sunday. The issues were resolved through discussion among the local people, the district administration and officials of Vedanta which has been allocated the coal mines, he added. “The issues related to compensation for affected families were discussed in a healthy atmosphere, following which a consensus was reached. The mining operation started Friday,” the official stated.
Sundargarh Sadar MLA Kusum Tette, additional district magistrate (ADM) Abhimanyu Behera, sub-collector Dasharathi Sarabo, Vedanta Mines CEO V Srikant and several other company officials were present at the meeting. More than 1,500 residents of Mendra, Jamkani, Girishma and Jharpalang villages attended the meeting. “The issues are now resolved with the company agreeing to pay additional ex gratia to the displaced families and give priority in providing employment to them. The mining operations started Friday,” Behera said. The dispute originated when Vedanta acquired the mines with a reserve of 114 million tonne of coal, from another company. The people, who had earlier received compensation, started demanding an additional amount, which has been met by Vedanta, the ADM said. Vedanta has proposed to utilise coal from Jamkani mines for its power plant at Jharsuguda.