Deocha Pachami: ‘Global tender to be soon floated for mining of basalt’

State Power minister Aroop Biswas on Friday held a meeting with the representatives of Poland at Vidyut Unnayan Bhawan discussing various issues relating to the extraction of coal in Deocha-Pachami. During the meeting the minister said that global tender will soon be floated for mining the basalt.

Power department secretary Santanu Bose, West Bengal Power Development Corporation Chairman PB Selim, representatives from Poland were present in the meeting. The Bengal government explored the possibility of technical collaboration with Poland for the development of the Deocha-Pachami coal. The Mamata Banerjee government is set to float tenders for the mining of basalt from a significant portion of the proposed coal mine in Deocha-Pachami in Birbhum district.

The mining of the basalt (a kind of rock) is the first major step before extracting coal from Deocha-Pachami which has an indicative coal reserve of 1,198 million tonnes and is spread over 12.31 sqkm.

Sources said that the basalt found in Deocha-Pachami is famous for its superb quality and is used in the construction of buildings and roads and bridges. A total of 142 million tonnes of basalt could be extracted from the area that has been identified by the state government. This is why many agencies have already shown interest in taking part in the tender process.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on November 9, 2021, had announced a rehabilitation package worth Rs 10,000 crore to initiate coal excavation at Deocha Pachami coal block, clearly stating that there will be no acquisition of land like what had taken place during the Left Front rule. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s dream project the Deocha Pachami coal mine is set to translate into action as the state government inches one step closer with extracting works.