Angul, Dec. 3: Talcher coalfield, which was shut down for last five days, resumed mining and despatch of coal today as the agitating contractual workers joined their duties in all the eight open-cast mines.
Though the prohibition order under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code was lifted from the town, it remained in force at the railway siding No. 3 and 4 of Jagannath colliery where a clash between supporters of the contractor and the contractual workers took place on Friday.
The contractual workers, who were earlier engaged in coal mining in collieries, returned to work today after a meeting with MLA Braja Kishore Pradhan.
The meeting was held at Hingula temple this morning. Pradhan, who was arrested on November 30 for Friday’s violence and was subsequently lodged in jail, was released yesterday evening.
The issue of Pradhan’s arrest was also raised in the Assembly today by Congress chief whip Prasad Harichandan and party legislator Santosh Singh Saluja.
Demanding a statement from chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Saluja said though Pradhan was arrested from Bhubaneswar, he was not produced before the court there.
The police records showed him to be arrested from Talcher.All the coal mines in Talcher started operating and the dispatch also began by rail after the operators called off the five-day strike.
Mahanadi Coalfields Limited has put the loss of production of coal in these five days at more than Rs 50 crore.