Supply of coal blocked in Godda

Dumka, Feb. 15: Hundreds of BJP cadres and people under the leadership of Godda MP Nishikant Dubey today launched an agitation by blocking railway tracks at Jiyajori to disrupt supply of coal from Santhal Pargana.

Dubey, who has been at the forefront of protests against the Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), initiated the move to put pressure on the company to fulfil its corporate social responsibilities towards people displaced by the project and the rail link between its unit at Lalmatia and Kahalgaon in Bihar.

The railway track at Jiyajori comes under Mahgama block in Godda district.

The blockade is set to adversely affect power generation by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) units in Kahalgaon and Farakka, Bengal, within couple of days. ECL’s Lalmatia unit is the sole supplier of coal to both units.

“We will not withdraw the agitation until both NTPC and ECL come forward to fulfil the demands of displaced people and others staying near the project areas,” Dubey said.

The BJP leader said power generation at the NTPC unit in Kahalgaon would come to a halt tomorrow onwards, while its Farakka unit would meet a similar fate a few days later.

The Lalmatia unit supplies 12MT coal annually to the NTPC units, supplying nearly 90 per cent of it by rail.