Restoration work in progress at Fathapur hamlet, where a goods train derailed on February 6. Picture by Giridhari Mandal

Kahalgaon (Bhagalpur), Feb. 9: Coal thieves have started posing serious threat to both the units of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) at Kahalgaon and Farakka.

Initial probe into the February 6 derailing of a goods train carrying coal to Kahalgaon unit has revealed that the incident was a result of coal pilferage.

An NTPC officer said sabotage by coal thieves was the main reason behind the mishap of coal wagons on the merry-go-round (MGR) route on February 6 near Fathapur hamlet under Sonokhar police station in Bhagalpur.

While Farakka has alternative arrangements, the Kahalgaon unit has to face all the problems with a disrupted supply of coal.

The NTPC authorities of Kahalgaon and Rajmahal coal- field project, called the Lalmatiya project in the neighbouring Godda district of Jharkhand, have expressed serious concerns over the frequent incidents of theft on the MGR tracks through which coal is supplied to the power units.

Apart from the MGR tracks, the criminals are apparently active inside the project areas of the Kahalgaon unit.

On the night of February 5, criminals shot from point-blank range a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable on duty, Pradip Kumar Rana, after he chased them.

Rana is battling with death at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Bhagalpur.

“Exchange of fire between criminals and CISF has become a common phenomenon here,” an NTPC officer told The Telegraph.

Earlier, members of a gang of coal pilferers used to steal coal from loaded wagons on their way to Kahalgaon or Farakka from Lalmatiya.

“On several occasions in the past, we have lodged complaints to the police about this. Unfortunately, nothing has changed. CISF personnel provide escort to the coal racks but without the co-operation of the district police force it is impossible to counter such incidents,” a senior NTPC official at Kahalgaon said, on condition of anonymity.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that a gang member of coal thieves, who earlier boarded on the coal rack, cut the vacuum pipe when the train was running between 80 and 90km/hr, causing the accident. They wanted to slow down the speed to unload coal besides the tracks but the sudden cutting of the vacuum pipe caused the derailment,” he said.

He added that NTPC had to face a loss of Rs 4 crore due to the complete damage of 23 wagons besides other losses incurred due to the scattering of coal. One wagon of coal costs over Rs 26 lakh, the officer said.

NTPC sources said during the past four months, six such accidents on MGR tracks have been reported, mainly caused due to sabotage by coal thieves in which 64 railway wagons and a diesel locomotive were completely damaged. Sources said the NTPC had to suffer a loss of over Rs 200 crore because of the incidents.

A team of senior officers comprising the general manager, NTPC, Kahalgaon, D. Sarkar and assistant general manager (human resource) Ranjit Rastogee, chief general manager of Rajmahal coal- field project, J.P. Singh rushed to senior superintendent of police, Bhagalpur, Sanjoy Singh and urged him to take preventive measures to counter the increasing number of such criminal activities.

“Such incidents were earlier reported on the MGR inside the stretch falling under Jharkhand’s districts. This was the first time such an incident was reported inside Bhagalpur,” Singh told reporters in Bhagalpur today.

The senior SP who had reportedly taken a serious note on such incidents, told journalists that Kahalgaon police have been instructed to take special notice on the MGR stretch that passes through the areas. Moreover, he also instructed the policemen to arrange regular patrolling on these tracks and prepare the list of the coal thieves in each village.

The people of the area, however, blamed the accident on the poor maintenance of the tracks by the NTPC. The two recent derailments on February 2 and January 12 near Chagraha under Belbadda police station in Godda and Birniya in the same area were because of technical snags on the MGR, the people of the area said. S.K. Tiwary, in-charge of accident relief train, which came from Sahebganj, also shared the same view.

He said the tracks with the railway bridges in the MGR section have become 25-year-old and were not in proper condition because of lack of proper maintenance.

Dilip Mishra, secretary of Sarbo Daliya Sangharsh Samiti, a Ishipur Barahat-based voluntary organisation fighting for the problems of the region during the doubling of the MGR tracks, said large-scale irregularities were reported and the organisation lodged a complaint with the concerned authorities of NTPC.

“Following our complaint, the NTPC had set up vigilance inquiry but has not yet disclosed the progress of the inquiry,” he said.

General manager of the Kahalgaon branch of NTPC, Subhasis Ghosh declined to comment on the issue.