With just a little over 80 days left in the current financial year, the Manuguru coal mine area of the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) is gearing up for the daunting task of producing around 34 lakh tonnes of coal in this short period .
The Manuguru area, which has a distinguished track record in coal production, is now faced with the uphill task of producing at least 40,000 tonnes of coal per day to meet the annual coal production target of 94.35 lakh tonnes before March 31. The State-owned coal mining giant has laid renewed focus on replacement of old machinery with state-of-the-art equipment in the Manuguru area, considered a prime coal mining area in the Kothagudem region.
The company management has accorded top priority to optimise the use of heavy-duty equipment to make up for the production losses it suffered due to heavy rain last monsoon.
The company has deployed four heavy-duty 11 cubic metre capacity hydraulic shovels at an estimated cost of Rs. 42 crore in Prakasamkhani Opencast Project-II in Manuguru.
The company management has drawn up plans to commence coal production in the Manuguru opencast extension project at the earliest to augment coal production, SCCL sources said.
A comprehensive action plan is being implemented to step up coal production in strict adherence to safety standards to meet the set coal output target, said M Mallesham, Chief General Manager, SCCL, Manuguru area. Four new hydraulic shovels each costing Rs 10.98 crore have already been inducted into the PKOCP-II project to accelerate the pace of “overburden” removal at the mining site, he said, adding that collective efforts were under way to attain the annual coal production target of 94.35 lakh tonnes.
