Miners’ Unions Seek Koyagudem, JVR Blocks for Singareni
ABKMS-BMS seeks Kishan Reddy’s intervention to boost SCCL production and jobs
Hyderabad: Leaders of the All Bharat Koyagudem Mines Sangham–Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (ABKMS–BMS) on Sunday urged Union minister G. Kishan Reddy to allocate the long-pending Koyagudem Open Cast-III and JVR Open Cast-III coal blocks to the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL).
The union leaders met Kishan Reddy in Hyderabad and submitted a memorandum seeking his intervention. They thanked him for his efforts in securing the Manuguru PK OC-II Dip-Side Extension project for Singareni, saying the project would extend the company’s operational life by another 50 years.
The leaders said the SCCL workforce would continue to support the Union minister and appreciated his efforts to strengthen the public sector coal company. Kishan Reddy listened to their concerns and responded positively, they claimed.
According to the memorandum, the Koyagudem OC-III and JVR OC-III coal blocks had remained non-operational for several years. The union leaders said the blocks were earlier allotted through the auction process but mining operations had not commenced due to land acquisition issues, legal disputes and restrictions applicable to tribal agency areas.
They alleged that the previous BRS government had prevented SCCL from participating in auctions for new coal blocks. As a result, the company was facing a potential shortfall of nearly 12 million tonnes in coal production during the current year, they said.
They said the absence of new mines had led to transfers of workers in the Yellandu region, adversely affecting local employment and the economy.
Allocating the blocks to SCCL would allow the company to utilise its existing infrastructure, machinery and transport facilities, besides increasing coal production and ensuring a steady supply to power plants in southern India, they said.
The ABKMS–BMS leaders urged the Centre to review the existing allocations and, if necessary, cancel them and reallocate the blocks to Singareni through fresh allotment or re-auction.
P. Madhav Naik, Puli Raja Reddy, Appani Srinivas, Vaddepalli Kumar Swamy, Yadagiri Satyaiah, G.V. Krishna Reddy, Sai Veni Satish, Leela Krishna, Sujender and Narasimha Rao were among those present from ABKMS and BMS.
