Mancherial district prone to pollution by opencast mines

Srirampur opencast mine in Adilabad

The new district Mancherial is more prone to pollution due to opencast mines and industries of ceramic in the area.

The soil removed from opencast mines piled up at various places in the coal belt areas and causing health problems in Srirampur, Mancherial, Mandamarri , Kasipet, Thandur, Rebbena and Goleti areas under all the five opencast mines which are now part of Mancherial district to be named after Adivasi legendary Kumram Bheem.

The opencast mines Srirampur, Ramakrishnapur, Dorli I and II, Khairiguda are functional. New opencast mine Kalyanikhani at Erraguntapalle in Manadamarri was proposed.

Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has conducted surveys for new opencast mines at various places in Asifabad and Sirpur (T) Assembly constituencies. Singareni is planning to establish opencast mines near Movvad and Jodeghat area.    

    

On the other hand, coal ash emerges as a by-product of the thermal power project established at Jaipur mandal in the Mancherial district being created.

A large number of people have already suffered from respiratory health problems including asthma and lung problems with the existing opencast mines. The Singareni is planning new opencast mines in the area which comes under the Mancherial district.

The temperatures are high in the coal belt area as the coal gets heat during the summer and people experience highest temperatures.

Comparatively, the temperatures are low in Adilabad and Nirmal with the huge forest cover and no opencast mines and industries emanate pollution. These two places are now being carved out as new districts.

Villagers of Erraguntapalle have been agitating for long time opposing the opencast mining coming up in their village in Mandamarri.

One can see the piled up soil looks like hills causing pollution in the area and opencast mines resulted in the drastic fall in the ground water, sinking tanks, hitting the agriculture, drinking water problem and losing fertile agriculture lands in addition to the health problems.

The opencast mines also cause displacement of Adivasis from their traditional habitat that is forest areas and creates unrest among them by making them laborers.

Opencast mining turns into a battlefield in state

 Villagers of Erraguntapalle destroying foundation stone of opencast mine 

New opencast mines are running into stiff opposition. 

Even as Singareni is planning to establish more opencast mines in the coming days to increase its coal production, resistance to this style of mining is rising.

The Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) management has announced that they will open 25 new mines in the coming five years in the Telangana.

Singareni is planning to establish Kalyani Khani in Mandamarri and expansion of Abbapur -2 opencast mines in Tandur mandal.

It is assumed that certainly there will be new opencast mines and expansion of existing opencast mine. 

The move is snowballing into a major controversy with dissent from the oustees and people’s organizations. The TJAC led by M. Kodandaram took up the issue and chalked out an action plan to fight opencast mining.

Many social activists and environmentalists joined the hands with the people being affected with opencast mines.

The oustees of Srirampur opencast mine belonging to Thallapalli and Singapur villages are still agitating for the payment of rehabilitation and resettlement pack offered to them while evacuating them from their villages.

District police wrote a letter to the district administration asking it to clear the compensation to the oustees without delay as agitations for compensation creating law and order problem in the Mancherial area.

Now, villagers of Erraguntapalle have been agitating opposing the KK opencast mine saying that they will not give away their fertile lands and opencast mines destroy environment and cause pollution.           

Peddapelli Laxmaiah of Thallapelli village in Mancherial mandal complained that he was yet to get Rs 15 lakh compensation for his lands acquired under Srirampur opencast mine in 2005. 

According to sources, Singreni is planning to establish few new opencast mines in the eastern part and also in the west part of the district.

In its surveys, Singareni found coal deposits were between Srirampur of Mancherial to Sirpur(T) en route Bellampalli, Tandur, Rebbena, Asifabad, Sirpur ( T) and along the river Pranahitha.

Singareni claims that coal deposits also found near Movvad in Asifabad mandal located close to the historical place Jodeghat in Kerameri mandal and along the river Penganga and in Bela mandal in the west part of the district.

Singareni management has stopped mining coal from Goleti-IA underground mine in Rebbena mandal. The Dorli –I and II opencast mines and Khairiguda opencast mines are in operational.