CIL objects as govt seeks guards for explosives

Failure to do this could lead to suppliers forfeiting their licence under the Explosive Rules,2008

In a move set to further hit coal production,Coal India has been told it will have to use armed guards and coordinate with the local police and district administration each time it sends out detonators to its mines to prise out coal rocks.

This will mean a huge logistical exercise for which Coal India Ltd CIL has little expertise. With CIL Chairman S Narsing Rao expressing fears of a serious impact on coal production,the Coal Ministry has asked the Union Home Ministry to defer the implementation of the orders by at least six months till a satisfactory arrangement is worked out.

The Nagpur-based Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation sent out a circular on April 30 directing all manufacturers,sellers and users of explosives,including CIL,to have armed guards present whenever they transport explosives.

In addition each company has to keep informed superintendents of police and the administration of each district through which the explosives are being transported,before any truck leaves a godown.

Failure to do this could lead to suppliers forfeiting their licence under the Explosive Rules,2008.

In a letter last month to the Coal Ministry,the CIL Chairman said the directive would hit CIL and its subsidiaries on a day-to-day basis,pointing out that explosives are very critical for coal production.

Each working day,CIL and its subsidiaries send out over Rs 3 crore of explosives to their mines. In a year CIL buys over Rs 800 crore of explosives,which means about 2 lakh tonnes of all range of detonators,making it the largest buyer of explosives in the civil sector in the country.

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Rao has noted that after the directive,CILs current suppliers of explosives have stopped consignments fearing cancellation of licences.

The company estimates that the delays in working out the logistical exercise may shave off several million tonnes in coal production this year. The target for CIL in 2013-14 is 475 million tonnes. It has missed its target for the past three years by a wide margin.

The Home Ministry however has reasons to be cautious. Maoist as well as other outfits in the politically troubled coal-rich states have been known to poach the ammonium nitrate-based explosives.