Post News Network
Talcher, Feb 5: Union Coal Secretary Anil Swarup’s visit to the coal belt here was marred by protests as hundreds of workers waved black flags and staged an agitation on his arrival Thursday.
His visit drew flak from the workers as he did not visit the Hingula mines where kids of Bhalugadia village are on a protest since Wednesday after police arrested 27 of their elders Tuesday. The villagers are staging a sit-in demanding rehabilitation and employment. This has triggered sharp reactions among villagers displaced for the mines.
Swarup arrived here from Bhubaneswar in the afternoon but before that hundreds of workers from various trade unions like INTUC, HMS, CITU, AITUC had assembled on both sides of Dera Square as they waved black flags at him and raised slogans.
He visited Jagannath Colliery where he attended a high-level meeting before leaving for Bhubaneswari, Ananta, Jagannath, Bharatpur coalmines. Sources said Swarup expressed his displeasure over the mines failing to meet targets. While it was targeted to produce 100.6 million tonne by January end, so far the mines have only produced 97.8 million tonne. While last year the MCL mines had produced 110 million tonne of coals, this year it had set a target 127 million tonne. Later, Swarup held talks with collector and superintendent of police before leaving for Bhubaneswar in the evening.