Home ›› 22 Aug 2022 ›› Front
Extracting coal at Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited in Dinajpur resumed in three shifts a day with full capacity on Saturday after a long pause of more than three months.
On the first day of resumption of extraction, around 2,731 tonnes of coal was extracted, BCMCL Managing Director Saiful Islam Sarkar told the media on Saturday.
Coal mining at Barapukuria came to a halt on April 30 following the depletion of reserves at phase 1310 which was later declared abandoned.
The mine authority hopes they will be able to extract 3000-3500 tonnes of coal a day. “Production started at this mine in one shift from 6:00pm on August 6. After completing the maintenance, coal mining started in full swing in three shifts from Saturday morning’’ Saiful Islam Sarkar said.
He said 293 locals and 300 Chinese workers are working in three shifts and the number of workers will be increased.
Following the depletion of reserves at phase 1310, the authorities started transferring the usable equipment from the abandoned phase and installing new ones to extract coal from
phase 1306.
Development works for the new phase were completed quickly to deal with the national energy crisis, under the guidance of officials from the Energy and Mineral Resources Department and the Petrobangla chairman.
The authorities started the experimental production on July 27 by placing the equipment inside the mine base. In the meantime, the mine workers were tested for Covid symptoms and 52 Chinese and Bangladeshi workers tested positive. Later on July 30, extracting coal was stopped at the mine.
