Telwasa Coal Mine
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The Telwasa coal mine was an opencast mine, operated by Western Coalfields Limited, a subsidiary of Coal India, in village Telwasa, Tehsil Bhadrawati, Majri Area, Chandrapur District, Maharashtra, India.
As of April 2018, the mine is permanently closed.[1]
Location
The satellite image below shows the approximate location of the now-closed mine in Chandrapur District, Maharashtra, India.
Background
The Dhorwasa Opencast Coal Mine was owned and operated by Western Coalfields Limited (WCL)—a subsidiary of the state-owned coal mining company, Coal India. The mine was a twin project of the Dhorwasa Mine which it adjoined to and shared a common lease boundary with.[2]
Environmental Clearance was granted to Telwasa OCP on 19 May 2005 for production of coal at a capacity of 1 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in a mine lease area of 266 hectares (ha).
The Telwasa Opencast Expansion Coal Mine Project was granted Environment Clearance for expansion of production from 1 MTPA to 2.00 MTPA and lease area from 250.91 ha to 287.60 ha on 3 May 2012.[3]
Public hearing was held on 21 July 2004 for 1.4 MTPA capacity project. Balance of life of mine at 2.0 MTPA rated capacity was 5 years.[3]
Fatal Accident
In 2017, a Dozer Operator named Nirsu Jha (56) was killed when tonnes of overburden and coal fell on him at Telwasa open cast mine. With this, the total number of fatalities in WCL mines went up to 5 in 2017. Jha’s machine was clearing the overburden and coal around 11:30 PM. The overburden and coal of over 20 feet fell on him. It took nine hours to clear them and extricate his body. It was learned that a huge quantity of wet mud and overburden was dumped on one side of the coal wall. After blasting in the area, there were some movements in the overburden dump, and soon it collapsed.[4]
Scrapping of the River Regulatory Zone (RRZ) Policy
The RRZ policy was notified through a Government Resolution dated 15.07.2000, of the Maharashtra State through which rivers basins were divided into 4 zones/categories from A1 to A4 and each zone had specific regulations about siting industries and sewage from settlements on river banks. The zones were based on water quality.[5]
The Maharashtra Government vide Government Resolution dated 3rd February 2015 revoked the RRZ policy. The state government’s decision to scrap the policy will pave way for the proposed Western Coalfield mines and expansions projects proposed in Wardha valley. These mines were in the close range of 1,200 metres or less from Wardha river and held up for years due to RRZ policy.
The proposed mines that would be benefited by scrapping of RRZ policy included the Mungoli opencast mine (WCL, Wani area); Dhorwasa opencast mine; (WCL, Majri area); Ukni Deep opencast mine (WCL, Wani North area); Telwasa opencast mine (WCL, Majri area); Naigaon opencast mine (WCL, Wani area); and Yekona-I and Yekona-II opencast mines (both in WCL, Majri area).[6]
Mine Details
- Operator: Western Coalfields Limited
- Owner: Western Coalfields Limited
- Location: Village Telwasa, Tehsil Bhadrawati, Majri Area, Chandrapur District, Maharashtra, India
- GPS Coordinates: 20.059444, 79.077222 (approximate)
- Status: Closed
- Capacity: 2 million tonnes per annum
- Production: 0 million tonnes (2020)
- Total Resource:
- Mineable Reserves:
- Coal Type:
- Mine Size: 287.6 ha
- Mine Type: Opencast and mechanized (Shovel & Dumper combination)
- Start Year: 1997
- Closure Year: 2018[1]
- Source of Financing:
- Permits and Applications:
Expansion Details
- Status: Closed
- Size of Expansion: 1 MTPA to 2 MTPA
- Permits and Applications: Environmental Clearance for expansion in production capacity from 1 MTPA to 2 MTPA, India MoEF&CC, 3 May, 2012.
Articles and Resources
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Environmental Audit Statements Financial Year: 2019-20, WCL website, Accessed June 2023.
- ↑ Environment Clearance Letter for Dhorwasa Opencast Expansion Project, MoEF&CC India, 3 May, 2012.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Environmental Clearance for expansion in production capacity from 1 MTPA to 2 MTPA, India MoEF&CC, 3 May, 2012.
- ↑ Anjaya Anparthi, "Machine operator dies in coal mine, 5th fatality this year", The Times of India, 26 November 2017.
- ↑ Parineeta Dandekar, "Maharashtra scraps river regulation zone", SANDRP Blog, 12 February 2015.
- ↑ Mazhar Ali, "7 WCL Mines to benefit from scrapping of RRZ policy", The Times of India, 29 March 2015.
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