Bengal govt delegation meets locals to allay concerns over Deocha-Pachami coal project

A high-level delegation led by West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha on Thursday held discussions with locals to allay their concerns over the Deocha-Pachami coal mining project in Birbhum.


PTI | Suri | Updated: 09-07-2020 23:39 IST | Created: 09-07-2020 23:39 IST
Bengal govt delegation meets locals to allay concerns over Deocha-Pachami coal project
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A high-level delegation led by West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha on Thursday held discussions with locals to allay their concerns over the Deocha-Pachami coal mining project in Birbhum. The state government is keen to kickstart the project at the worlds second largest coal block with an estimated 2,102 million tonne of reserves, before the 2021 assembly polls.

The delegation met around 50 people, including the leader of a tribal organisation and representatives of local bodies. "We came here to directly talk to the people concerned. We have replied to all their queries, and clearly mentioned that it is a state government project, not a private one," Sinha said.

"The West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd (WBPDCL) will initially use the coal excavated from the mine. The entire project area is around 3,500 acre, but we will implement it in phases," he added.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, later in the day, said in a tweet that her government will create "a model for India" to execute large projects like the Deocha-Pachami coal block. "Chief Secretary Shri Rajiva Sinha ji, other senior state & district officials have held detailed consultation with the people of Md Bazar Block at Deocha. The entire coal mining project was explained at length & all queries by the relevant stakeholders were addressed.

"This shall be done in phases & with full public support by adopting best mining practices in a time-bound manner," Banerjee said. Meanwhile, the opposition BJP claimed that the state government was fooling the people of Birbhum before the assembly polls.

Shyamapada Mondal, district president of the BJP, said, "Before every election in the last few years, the chief minister has talked about this project to befool the people of Birbhum. The state government knows it is beyond its capacity to implement this project." PTI CORR BSM RBT RBT.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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