Authorities concerned have been asked to complete all required processes to start mining in Deucha-Pachami coal block in West Bengal's Birbhum district within three months, an official said on Friday.
The decision was taken after a visit by West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, DGP Rajeev Mishra, West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited (WBPDCL) Chairman & Managing Director PB Salim, among others, to Mohammad Bazar to review the progress of work in the Deucha-Pachami coal block.
"The authorities concerned have been directed to complete all the required processes so that mining could be started in Deucha-Pachami within three months," the official told PTI.
The West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd (WBPDCL), the implementing agency, will begin overburden removal on 12 acres of land in the coal block, another official said.
This marks the first phase of the overburden removal project, with plans to eventually expand the work to 326 acres of contiguous encumbrance-free land for the project acquired so far.
Overburden, comprising soil, rock, and other materials above the coal seam, is predominantly thick basalt layers in the mining site.
"Initially, overburden removal will focus on the mining plan approved 12-acre plot and gradually it would be expanded to 326 acres," a senior WBPDCL official told PTI.
Pant, after the review meeting with senior officials of the Birbhum district administration and the power department, confirmed that preparations for the work are underway.
"An agency for overburden removal has been appointed, and work will start in 15-20 days. Since the coal seam lies beneath thick basalt rock, we have floated an Expression of Interest (EoI) for underground mining technology, with February 3 as the last submission date," Pant said.
Pant's visit to Birbhum followed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's dissatisfaction with the project's pace.
Banerjee had in Thursday's administrative review meeting strongly rebuked Birbhum District Magistrate Bidhan Roy for the slow progress of work and said that land acquisition was not done properly which was largely impacting the project.
The presence of thick basalt layers, ranging from 100-200 meters, presents significant challenges to coal extraction, requiring advanced technology and substantial investment. The coal block is estimated to hold 1,198 million tonnes of coal and 1,400 million tonnes of basalt.
The West Bengal government is actively seeking suitable underground mining technology to extract the reserves.
Initially allocated to Karnataka, Bihar, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited, the Deocha Pachami coal block now remains solely under West Bengal's control after other stakeholders withdrew, citing the high costs of open-cast mining.
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