SCCL moots trouble-shooting team

Recurring snags at CMP may hit coal production

Risk laden: A Singareni Collieries employee operating a machine at an underground coal mine at Kothagudem of Bhadradri Kothagudem district.

In an effort to avoid disruption in coal production due to recurring technical snags in the Continuous Miner Panel (CMP) at the Venkateshkhani underground mine (VK 7 incline) in Kothagudem, the officials of the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) have mooted creation of a dedicated team of trained personnel to exclusively handle repairs and fix technical glitches, if any, in the CMP.

The CMP was commissioned in the VK 7 incline over seven years ago. It has proved immensely beneficial in terms of producing coal in a cost-effective manner with safety in the underground mine.

The CMP technology has the efficacy to produce coal to an extent of 4.50 lakh tonnes per annum, sources said.

However, the recurring technical glitches in the CMP coupled with the scarcity of spare parts of the sophisticated machinery has become a cause for concern among the staff manning the machine.

Strategy needed

This has necessitated a long-term strategy to put in place a permanent mechanism to address the technical issues in the panel.

The SCCL officials have reportedly mooted an action plan to train a group of its workers under the supervision of the technicians of the foreign company, which originally installed the CMP in the VK-7 incline, in the technical know-how, SCCL sources said. Sources said that efforts were on to finalise modalities for entering into a pact to this effect with the foreign firm, known for its expertise in CMP technology.