14 days judicial custody for eight ECL employees
CBI has lodged the illegal coal mining and theft case in ECL jurisdiction area in November 2020 and has arrested the eight central government employees this month.
Law, Judiciary and PWD minister Moloy Ghatak has proposed to use the water from the abandoned open-cast coal mines of Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) for industrial usages.
About two decades ago the district administration started pisciculture in the abandoned coal mines of Eastern Coalfields Limited in Asansol and Durgapur subdivision which has been very much successful over the years.
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The proposal by Moloy Ghatak will help reduce the dependence on Damodar water storage for industrial purposes.
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“There has been huge storage of monsoon water in the abandoned coal mines of ECL over the years and the PHE department can filter the water and use it for industrial purposes in the Asansol-Durgapur industrial belt,” Moloy Ghatak said.
The minister held a meeting with the top officials of the district a few days ago and has instructed district magistrate of Burdwan West, S Arun Prasad to take up the issue with the management of the ECL.
Incidentally, the chairman of West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC), Rajeeva Sinha has also proposed the district administration and ECL for usage of water of abandoned coal mines for industrial usage in recent times.
Sambhu Nath Jha, the secretary of Asansol Chamber of Commerce has welcomed this proposal by the PWD minister and said that the new step will solve the water crisis in this industrial belt.
“It will also help to reduce the bills of the PHE department to carry water through long pipelines from the faraway located Damodar riverbed water projects,” he added.
Sandeep Bhalotia, of the MSME sector from Raniganj said that there have been proposals for fresh investments in Asansol-Durgapur region in recent time and the water connection from abandoned open cast coal pits will give further boost in the industrial sector.
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