Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : The Ministry of Coal , Govt. of India, organised a day-long workshop on “way ahead for Jharia and Raniganj Master Plan” at Central Coalfields Limited, a Jharkhand-based subsidiary of Coal India Ltd, on July 14, 2021.The workshop was aimed at expediting rehabilitation of affected families to safer locations in Jharia (Jharkhand) and Raniganj (West Bengal).
To avoid any natural mishap at Jharia and Raniganj coalfields in Jharkhand and West Bengal, a master plan was drawn to rehabilitate the affected families to a safer location. Bharat Coking Coal Ltd(BCCL) and Eastern Coalfields Ltd(ECL)- both subsidiaries of Coal India- have active mines in Jharia and Raniganj respectively.
Additional Secretary, Ministry of Coal (MoC) , Govt. of India, Vinod Kumar Tiwari, Joint Secretary, MoC, Govt of India, B P Pati, and other dignitaries were present during the workshop.
In his inaugural address, Additional Secretary, MoC, Vinod Kumar Tiwari, pointed out that the government is very much concerned about the safety of the people living in coal-bearing areas in Jharia and Raniganj. He said that the company’s top priority should be to douse fire in Jharia by introducing new technologies. He further said that ECL had proactively doused active surface fire areas but fire remains a challenge in Jharia, according to a PIB release.
Addressing the participants, Director Technical, CIL Binay Dayal, said that CIL is committed to solve the issue of fire in Jharkhand and many scientific studies have been carried out in the past. Secretary Mines, Govt of Jharkhand, K Srinivasan too emphasised the importance of minerals in the state including coking coal.
Prior to the technical session, CMD, CCL, P M Prasad, who has been given additional charge of BCCL, welcomed dignitaries and senior officials for participating at the workshop.
Two technical sessions were organised during the day-long workshop. First session was chaired by Joint Secretary, MoC, BP Pati, in which present and former Deputy Collector, Dhanbad, narrated the factual position of Jharia Master Plan. They said the Jharia Rehabilitation and Development Authority (JRDA) is prioritising tasks so that the affected families get to safer locations. The second scientific session was chaired by Director, BCCL, Chanchal Goshwami, in which Prof. ISM, Dhanbad, VK Sinha talked about the fire fighting at Jharia- efforts made in the past.