Stop Opencast Mining

[Pittala Ravinder]

FIGHT AGAINST OPEN GHOSTS
The State owned Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), the only
coal mining company in the entire South India, is operating
14-Opencast coal mine projects besides 36-underground coal mines in
Adilabad, Karimnagar, Warnagal and Khammam districts of Telangana
State. Though coal is the basic source of energy for industrial and
economical development of the Country, the ill-effects of coal mining
more particularly through Opencast mining method, is more hazardous.
The Singareni is mining coal since last 125-long-years and catering to
the energy needs of entire South India. At present the Singareni is
producing over 53 million tones of coal per year from its 50 coal
mines, both Opencast and Underground methods. The mechanization and
modernization brought its production target from a meager 28 million
tons in 1991 to 53 million tones now, which represent 11 per cent of
the country’s coal production. Contrary to the big leap in production
hikes, the number of workers were dwindled from a hopping 1, 17,468 to
64,559, during the same period. The company had drawn its plans to
achieve 60 Milllion Tonnes of coal per year in near future by
downsizing the number of workers to less than 50,000. This created
insecurity among the traditional coal mining communities, most of them
drawn from rural parts of Telangana State and more particularly from
North Telangana Region, hampering industrial relations in the Century
old Singareni , which claims to be the first public sector Company in
the India.
Adding fuel to the fire, the opencast mining is creating havoc within
the vicinity of the Sinageni Coal belt areas. In addition to the
on-going 14-OCPs, the Singareni has proposed around 25 new OCPs in the
above four districts, in a bid to achieve its high-end production
targets. People of the Singareni affected areas have been echoing
their voices in protest against the proposed OCPs in their strongest
ways and means, but going in vain as the State and Union Governments
are literally ignoring the ground level realities.
After three years of quiet period in the wake of intensified Telangana
movement, the issue of OCPs again surfaced when the Sinageni officials
recently announced their determination to take up 14-odd new opencast
projects, as decided in the past. With this the people of Singareni
affected areas alerted themselves and started reiterating their
earlier stand against the OCPs. People of Indaram village near
Mancherial united themselves as Joint Action Committee against OCPs
and organizing protest programs for the last four days in a row.
Similarlly people of Sravanpalli and Somagudem are also on war path
against the proposed OCPs.
A team of Telangana Vidyavanthula Vedika (TVV) toured all the above
three villages on 14th February and expressed solidarity to the
agitating people. My article on the ill-effects of the OCPs published
in Namasthe Telangana newspaper on the same day. TVV is now planning
to organize an all party round table meeting on the issue of OCPs at
all the places of coal belt districts, in a bid to garner support for
the Singreni affected areas people. TVV is also drawing a plan to
organize a big dharna at Hyderabad besides sensitizing the National
Media on the issue. TVV requests all the netizens to react on this
and post your support. Pl forward this on all possible sites, web
locations, mailing groups and individual mails. Pl also visit:
www.stopopencastmining.blogspot.com
- Pittala Ravinder, General Secretary, TVV.

[Pittala Ravinder]