Overburden removal must keep pace with coal production targets: SCCL CMD

CMD of Singareni Collieries Buddhaprakash Jyoti holding a meeting with company Directors and senior executives in Hyderabad on Saturday.

The removal of overburden should be in line with production targets in the Kothagudem Region, which produces the highest quantity of coal in Singareni, Chairman and Managing Director of the Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) Buddhaprakash Jyoti said.

At a review meeting held here on Saturday on coal production, overburden removal in the opencast mines, coal transportation and other related issues, the CMD said the region comprised mines in the Kothagudem, Sathupalli, Yellandu and Manuguru Areas. He instructed the agencies to arrange adequate machinery and manpower to meet the targets.

He said Singareni would need to supply 75,000 tonnes of coal every day to Telangana Genco thermal power stations to meet the energy demand in view of the El Nino conditions. The company must also transport coal to power stations with which it has fuel supply agreements.

Underlining that overburden removal must meet the prescribed targets to achieve required coal production, the CMD said coal could be produced from the seams below only when overburden was removed each day in line with the target.

To meet the coal production targets, all areas were required to achieve daily overburden removal of 14.15 lakh cubic metres together. Of this, the four areas in the Kothagudem Region must remove 5.5 lakh cubic metres every day.

The CMD suggested officials discuss any difficulties in meeting the overburden targets with the authorities concerned and resolve them. He made it clear that the management would not be lenient towards agencies that show lethargy in overburden removal.

Stating that the target of 8,000 tonnes of coal production and removal of 5.5 lakh lakh cubic metres of overburden per day in the Kothagudem Area, he told the officials to prioritise safe coal production and the quality of coal transportation. He held a detailed discussion on mines whose contract periods would end in the coming months. He told the officials concerned to prepare proposals for new contracts promptly and obtain necessary approvals.

Directors of SCCL L.V. Suryanarayana, K. Venkateshwarlu, Gowtham Potru and Tirumala Rao, other senior executives B. Venkanna, T. Srinivas, Devender, Venkata Ramana, Durgam Ramchander, Venkatachari, Visam Krishnaiah and others along with overburden contractors attended the meeting.