Coal block near Hingna not viable: Bawankule

Nagpur: Energy minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule has claimed that the Mahajanwadi coal block near Hingna, allocated to Mahagenco, was not viable due to high cost of rehabilitation. A consultant will be appointed to study the viability of the block. The tender for this purpose has been already floated. Public representatives of Hingna area including BJP MLA Sameer Meghe are up in arms against the block as it will displace about one lakh people.
According to Bawankule if the consultant’s report confirmed that the block spread over 7,500 acre was unviable then Mahagenco will send a proposal to coal ministry to deallocate the block. “The state government will recommend that mining should not be allowed in the area at all,” the minister said.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Bawankule said that Mahagenco had adequate coal at present and this situation would continue in the coming years. “WCL is increasing its production every year and by 2020 it will provide Mahagenco enough coal for 20,000MW generation. In addition we have been given allocated Gare Pelma coal block in Chhattisgarh, which will produce 50 million metric tons per annum (MMTPA). In contrast Mahajanwadi has a capacity of only 3 MMTPA,” he added.
Further justifying the reasons for deallocation, Bawankule said that the state was power surplus. “At present our demand is just 10,500MW while generation capacity is 17,000MW. Even in summer, we managed without load-shedding even though Parli, Tiroda and Koyna plants were not generating,” he added.
The minister slammed opposition parties for ignoring the facts while opposing Mahajanwadi block. “It is their government, which allocated the block in 2013. Why didn’t they protest at that time,” he said.
Mahagenco had recommended to state government that all registration of property transactions in the coal block area should be stopped. Commenting on this, the minister said that people should wait just for a month when the consultant’s report would be ready.