Team News Riveting
Raipur, July 1
Union Minister of State for Coal and Mines Satish Chandra Dubey on Tuesday visited the Baikunthpur Area of the South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL)—the Chhattisgarh-based arm of Coal India Limited (CIL).
Dubey, who is on a two-day visit to SECL sites, inaugurated a new continuous miner at the NCPH Mine in SECL’s Chirimiri Area and flagged off the machine.
Speaking on the occasion, he said that the ministry of coal is working towards enhancing underground coal production through adoption of new and advanced technologies. “Our target is to achieve 100 million tonnes of coal production from underground mines by 2030, and we are promoting technologies like continuous miner in more and more mines to reach this goal. The commissioning of this new low-height Continuous Miner at SECL will definitely strengthen the company’s underground production,” the minister added.
Dubey said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, electricity has reached every household in the country in the past decade — a feat made possible due to the contributions of coal miners. He appreciated the growing participation of women in the coal sector, working shoulder-to-shoulder with men and carving a space for themselves.
On arrival, the minister received a grand welcome at the venue with traditional Saila dance by the local community. He began his visit by planting a sapling at the Churcha Mine campus as part of the “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” campaign.
He then inaugurated the Main Mechanical Ventilator (MMV) at Churcha Mine. The new ventilator will ensure clean airflow up to the Last Ventilation Connection (LVC) in the mine, thereby providing better working conditions for the underground workforce.
In a significant step toward women empowerment, the minister also inaugurated bio-toilets for female employees working in the mine. Later, in a felicitation ceremony, the Minister honoured outstanding employees of the area, particularly women staff and contract workers, boosting their morale.
On this occasion, SECL CMD Harish Duhan, Director (Technical – Operations & Project/Planning) N Franklin Jayakumar, Director (HR) Biranchi Das, Director (Finance) D Sunil Kumar, CVO Himanshu Jain, Baikunthpur Area GM B N Jha, Baikunthpur MLA Bhaiyalal Rajwade, District Collector Smt. Chandan Sanjay Tripathi (IAS), District SP Ravi Kumar Kurre (IPS), and other senior officials were present.
