Team News Riveting
Ranchi, May 17
Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), an arm of the state-run Coal India Limited (CIL), lost 47 miners in the line of duty while extracting coal amidst pandemic to ensure the country did not face shortage of electricity making raw material.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted lives in the county as well as world over for more than one year. Mining activities of Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL), a Jharkhand based subsidiary of Coal India, continued without any break during the pandemic. While discharging their duties, 47 employees lost their lives as they did not falter to report on duty.
Despite following the protocol of COVID-19 issued by the Government from time to time as well as higher management of CCL, many executives as well as non-executives were affected from the COVID-19 infection. Besides loss of lives, many employees are undergoing treatment.
The CCL officials could not be contacted for its version on the issue.
Not only the employees of CCL, but also their many family members were affected by the disease and a few succumbing to it. Despite the death toll due to the ongoing pandemic, CCL has recorded 112 per cent increase in production at 4.84 million tonne (mt) in April 2021. CCL had recorded 2.28 mt coal output in April 2020.
The surge in infections has led to the re-imposition of lockdowns in Jharkhand till morning of May 27, 2021 and imposed many restrictions to flatten the COVID-19 virus curve and allowed mining activities in Jharkhand so that row coal is supplied to the power plants situated in Jharkhand and other parts of the country.
In Jharkhand, the streets are mostly empty and the markets nearly deserted with almost all shops closed in response to curbs put in place by the local administration to fight the pandemic.
CCL CMD PM Prasad had earlier asked officials to work closely with the state government and district administration to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. He has also directed to increase COVID care facilities on war footing to the extent possible and adopt COVID appropriate behaviour such as social distancing, masking and vaccination.
CCL has mining operations in Chatra, Latehar, Ramgarh, Hazaribag, Bokaro, Ranchi, Giridih and Palamu districts of Jharkhand.
