Bhubaneswar, Sep 1 (IANS) Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), a unit of state-run Coal India, said Thursday its output fell by 1.3 million tonnes in August compared to a year ago, due to combined problems of dengue outbreak, heavy rains and strike by contract workers.
A.N. Sahay, chairman and managing director of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), one of Coal India’s eight subsidiaries, told IANS that MCL’s total production in August declined to 6.1 million tonnes from 7.4 million tonnes the previous year.
He said production was affected as a large number of workers stayed away from work during the month due to a dengue outbreak, continuous rains and also a strike by the divers, helpers and contract workers engaged by private agencies in the Talcher coalfields in the district of Angul, about 180 km from here.
According to government figures, dengue outbreak has claimed the lives of 24 people in Orissa in August and most of these deaths took place in Talcher coalfield.
Similarly, a total of 912 people were found infected with the virus and at least 410 of them belonged to the coalfields region.
Sahay said the daily output at Talcher coalfields had come down to 7,000-8,000 tonnes from 1.2 lakh tonnes.
He, however, said the situation will improve and the company will be able to meet the production target of 106 million tonnes this fiscal as the contract workers had called off their strike Wednesday night and things are being normalised.
The dengue cases also were on the decline, he said.
