All set to start Koyagudem Opencast project shortly

SCCL plans to open 31 coal mines including 20 OCPs and 11 underground

May 25, 2017 12:59 am | Updated 01:00 am IST - BHADRADRI-KOTHAGUDEM

New avenues:  A view of Singareni opencast coal mine in Bhadradri Kothagudem district.

New avenues: A view of Singareni opencast coal mine in Bhadradri Kothagudem district.

Setting its sights on ramping up coal production, the State-owned coal mining giant Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has initiated preparations to start Koyagudem Opencast Project-III (KOC-III) in Lingala Koyagudem coal belt of Godavari valley coalfield in Tekulapally mandal soon.

The extractable reserves in the KOC-III are estimated to be around 111.98 million tonnes as against the estimated geological reserves of 146.81 MT. The KOC-III project is expected to produce around 3.6 million tonnes per annum, SCCL sources said.

In pursuit of its aggressive growth strategy, the SCCL has drawn up ambitious plans to open 31 coal mines including 20 OCPs and 11 underground mines in the next five years.

It presently has 30 underground mines and 16 OCPs spread across the vast Godavari valley coalfield spanning Bhadradri-Kothagudem, Khammam, Karimnagar, Adilabad and a few other districts in the State.

The company has set a coal production target of 66.06 million tonnes for the current fiscal.

The company is aiming to set new benchmarks in coal production, dispatches and overburden removal besides enhancing the coal production capacity to around 900 lakh tonnes by 2020-2021, SCCL sources said.

Forest clearance

The SCCL has reportedly obtained the mandatory forest clearance from the Central government agencies concerned for the KOC-III.

The project envisages use of 1158 hectares of forest land and 448 hectares of non-forest land.

The upcoming KOC-III, which is surrounded by the Koyagudem OCP-II, is expected to augment coal production in Yellandu area of the SCCL.

As many as 375 families had been displaced and another 511 families affected by the project, sources said. Almost all the project displaced and affected families belongs to tribal communities.

Rehabilitation package

The SCCL sources claimed that appropriate measures were initiated to extend the rehabilitation and resettlement package to all the PDFs and PAFs under the upcoming project.

Preparations are on to commence the works on removal of 17 lakh cubic meters of overburden at the KOC-III to commence coal production in the project, said S Chandrasekhar, Director (Operations), SCCL.

The KOC-III has already obtained all the mandatory approvals from the Central government agencies concerned, he told The Hindu, when contacted.

The project is likely to be opened in the first week of July this year.

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