Coal crisis: Nalco staff move ministries, PM

BHUBANESWAR: Employees of Nalco have sought urgent intervention of the Central Government to address the present coal crisis and formulate a comprehensive plan to prevent recurrence of such shortage situations. In an appeal sent to Prime Minister, ministries of Coal, Mines and Railways, working president of the Nalco Employees’ Sangha NK Samal sought a permanent solution to the coal crisis and not stop-gap arrangements. The operation of the aluminium PSU’s smelter at Angul has been seriously affected due to short-supply of coal from the linkage provided to the company by Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL). To add to the misery of supply shortfall, the Railways has imposed restrictions on movement through trains, Samal said. While the company is already losing around ` 1 crore everyday due to the crisis, non-resumption of adequate supply will lead to further loss. If the Government doesn’t come up with timely interventions, the company may be forced to shut down its potline resulting in loss of jobs for around 1 lakh people, who directly or indirectly depend on the smelter for livelihood, he said.