Telangana: SCCL mine blasts leave several injured, houses damaged

As part of L-6 canal diversion works, Singareni authorities carried out the blasting using explosives to remove large stones

PEDDAPALLI: Several residents in Nagepalli of Ramagiri mandal sustained injuries while their houses were damaged due to the blasts carried out in the opencast-II coal mine in Ramagundam-III division of Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) on Thursday.

As part of L-6 canal diversion works, Singareni authorities carried out the blasting using explosives to remove large stones. Houses in the nearby Nagepalli were damaged as the stones fell on them. About 10 people were also injured.

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Enraged over the incident, local people staged a rasta roko in the village forcing traffic to come to standstill for about two hours on the Peddapalli-Manthani main road.

Refusing to withdraw the protest until SCCL authorities gave a clarification on the issue, they found fault with the management for carrying out blasting without alerting the local people.

On learning about the incident, Godavarikhani ACP Madatha Ramesh along with other police officials rushed to the spot and took the initiative to bring RG-III General Manager Sudhakar Rao to the spot. The angry villagers grilled the Singareni officials and withdrew their protest only after the GM assured to provide treatment to injured people, repair damaged houses and take departmental action against the officials responsible for the incident.

TBGKS president Miryala Raji Reddy visited the village and inspected the damaged houses. He said it was against the rules to take up blasting without getting IED permission. Such incidents were taking place due to the ignorance of officials, he said, holding the management responsible for the incident.