india

Updated: Oct 01, 2019 22:52 IST

Public sector coal miner, Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd Tuesday said that it suffered a loss of Rs 2.68 crore due to a three-and-half hour agitation over the death of a goat in Odisha’s Talcher area.

In a statement, MCL said the company suffered the loss due to stoppage of coal transportation and despatch work at Jaganath sidings in Talcher Coalfields after a goat of a local villager was killed after a truck carrying coal hit it.

Public relations officer of MCL, Dikken Mehra said the local people demanded Rs 60,000 as compensation for goat’s death. The protest spilt over to the mine areas in Jaganath Sidings 1 and 2 at Talcher where villagers forcibly stopped mining work. Work resumed only at 2.30 p.m. after the intervention of senior officials and the police.

The company said due to three-and-a-half-hour-long stoppage, it suffered an estimated loss of Rs 1.4 crore on account of coal transportation to the sidings, and Rs 1.28 crore because it could not despatch a particular quantity of coal through railways. The government exchequer also suffered an estimated loss of around Rs 46 lakh due to this stoppage.

The company later lodged an FIR with the local police for necessary action against those who created the illegal obstruction.

“Coal mines are restricted working zones where only the people authorised, trained and having a knowhow of the mines enter to perform their job, the entry to mine areas is totally prohibited for general movement,” Mehra said.