Coal news and updates

Work at MCL mine normal: union

December 13: Days after a violent protest plagued mining operations at Talcher field of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), a trade union of Coal India Ltd (CIL) said the situation has returned to normal and mining work was going on in full swing.

"The mining operations are normal. There is no further disturbance in the area," said a senior leader of All India Coal Workers Federation (AICWF).

He described the Talcher incident as a "local issue" and said there was no significant loss of production from the brief shutdown.

Earlier, MCL officials had claimed that the closure of a mine had cut off a supply of about 200,000 tons per day to the power utilities.

The problem had occurred after a new contractor had taken over coal loading and allied activities at two railway sidings and employed new workers. This led to violent protests by the employees of the previous contractor and finally resulted in the closure of mining operations.