By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, October 1, 2019: 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 Talcher.

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

The stir occurred at Talcher coalfields over the demand of local residents for Rs 60,000 as compensation for the death of the goat, the MCL said in a statement.

The protest spilt over to the mine areas in Jagannath 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.

Such illegal obstructions to coal mining operations not only act against the economic growth of the nation but also create hurdles to the country’s aspiration of becoming a five trillion dollar economy, the statement said.

“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.

However, some people from the peripheral localities are deliberately trespassing into the coal mine and the overburden areas to pick coal, firewood and are even bringing their livestock for grazing, which remains a cause of concern, he added.