Telangana: Rains hit coal production in Singareni mines

Sources say due to heavy rain about 80 percent of the coal production in the various opencast mines of the company has come to a standstill as it has become difficult to use heavy machinery.

Hyderabad: Coal production in the opencast mines of Singareni was hit due to incessant rains in the last two days. Sources say due to heavy rain about 80 percent of the coal production in the various opencast mines of the company has come to a standstill as it has become difficult to use heavy machinery.

According to the officials, 1.46.595 tonnes of production was disrupted between July 15 to 18. Work in the surface mines came to a complete halt on Friday. Rain water and mud have accumulated in the Singareni OC mines due to continuous rain since Thursday evening across the district. Coal mines in the area were inundated with rainwater haulage resulting in a pause in the coal production process and the removal of overburdens came to a halt as roads turned slippery, the officials added.

---

Singareni produces 1.74 lakh tonnes of coal per day (20 per cent from underground mines and 80 per cent from surface mines). Since July 15, the roads leading to the surface mines have become muddy due to the rains, making it impossible for heavy machines to go inside the mines, sources said.

Due to continuous rain, the company has stopped the operation of heavy machinery in the open cast mines, affecting the coal production severely. In order to drain rain water from mines, the company has been using high-capacity motors at all the open cast mines, officials said.

The State-owned coal mining company has 18 opencast and 24 underground coal mines spread across the State’s coal belt region and the ongoing heavy downpour has led to stagnation of water in the open cast mines in Manuguru, Kothagudem and Yellandu areas, affecting coal production and overburden removal works in these coal mines.