Date:01/01/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/01/01/stories/2005010105200400.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Alipiri blast hits SCCL bottomline

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, DEC. 31. Ban on use of nitro-glycerine-based explosives by the Union Home Ministry since April this year has affected coal production by 1 lakh tonnes per month in four mines of the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL).

The blanket ban on use of the slurry-based explosive by the Centre in the wake of the abortive bid on the former Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, at Alipiri in Chittoor district, has resulted in the SCCL coal production taking a beating.

Three mines in the Ramagundam area of Karimnagar district and one in Kothagudem in Khammam district are hit by the ban. The explosives were used in SCCL through the "blasting gallery technology" developed by France.

Staggering loss

Each mine was producing 25,000 tonnes every month. The total production loss was put at 10.2 million tonnes annually.

The SCCL is at the receiving end due to the ban as 40 per cent of its production comes from underground mines when compared to 13 per cent from Coal India Limited (CIL) mines.

The SCCL Chairman and Managing Director, R. H. Khwaja, said no alternative material was available to continue production. The Central Mine Research Institute, Dhanbad, had been urged to find a suitable replacement. But the efforts would take at least two to three years, he added.

The SCCL had repeatedly written to the State and Central Government, seeking relaxation but no decision had been taken so far.