Odisha BJP leader writes to CM Majhi on coal smuggling in Sundargarh

Bhubaneswar: Senior BJP leader and former Sundargarh MLA Kusum Tete, has demanded a high-level probe into the rampant coal smuggling from opencast coal mines in the Hemgir block of the Sundargarh district in Odisha.

Tete, through a letter addressed to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has drawn his attention towards the rampant smuggling of coal from Sundargarh to outside the state.

She claimed that the illegal coal smuggling has been causing huge revenue loss to the state coffers. “Even though the rich mineral soil of Hemgir block’s Gopalpur area under the jurisdiction of Sundargarh Assembly Constituency is bestowed with Asia’s largest opencast coal mines and Government of India (GoI)’s Navratna company Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) has been tapping the ‘Black Diamond’ since the 1990s, anti-social elements and coal mafias are having a heyday with impunity by giving a damn to both the district and state administrations,” wrote Tete.

She further mentioned that the Central government has already leased out mining blocks formally to certain legal-lease-holding companies for coal mining operations and the state is earning revenue handsomely.

Tete asserted that the massively looted booty of coal is allegedly being smuggled out to Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

She stated that these nefarious practices were recently exposed by some local media channels, following which a raid was launched jointly by the Sundargarh district administration, police and forest department sleuths led by the Sundargarh Sub-Collector.