Jamshedpur MP Bidyut meets Union minister on opening of closed mines in Ghatshila

Jamshedpur, Aug 11: Jamshedpur BJP MP Bidyut Baran Mahato met the Union coal and mines minister Prahlad Joshi and demanded for opening the closed Moubhandar plant of Hindustan Copper Limited.

The historic copper plant of 1932 is closed for last two years due to the negligence of the management forcing contract workers into financial problem. Even the permanent workers are apprehensive about their future.

The MP also alleged that instead of giving employment to the youth by starting the plant, the management is selling copper concentrate to private companies, due to which there is resentment among the workers. The MP has demanded the Union Minister to start the closed plant at the earliest so that the workers do not have to suffer in the midst of the pandemic.

During the meeting the MP also demanded opening of Rakhacopper, Chapdi and Surda mines of Musabani Group of Mines as employment will increase after opening of the closed mines.

The MP said that all the necessary clearances were given to HCL five years ago to start the Rakhacopper and Chapdi mines. Two years ago, erstwhile CM Raghubar Das, along with the company’s CMD Santosh Sharma, had done Bhoomipujan for the commissioning of closed mines and establishment of a concentrator plant at Roam.

The then state government has already provided 100 acres of land to HCL for the concentrate plant. HCL was to appoint Mine Developers and Operation (MDO) to operate the mines which were pending since the year 2018 even after getting all kinds of approvals and clearances. Even after this, HCL has not taken any initiative in the direction of opening the mines. The contractor has not even been appointed for the MDO of the mines. Two CMDs of the company KD Dewan and Santosh Sharma have retired in the meantime, while the tenure of third CMD Arun Shukla is also nearing the end.

The MP also discussed with the Union minister regarding renewal of lease of Surda mine and  said that Surda Mines was closed for the last one and a half years due to non-approval of lease renewal by the Jharkhand Government.. The Union Ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Change had issued NOC to HCL with certain conditions. On the basis of NOC, the state government had said to approve lease renewal. However, the government has not yet given the approval, due to which thousands of laborers are facing unemployment. Workers are also agitating continuously for lease renewal. The MP appealed to the Union Minister to put pressure on the State Government for renewal of lease.