Theft of coal in Barapukuria mine to be probed
STAFF REPORTER
The mysterious disappearance of 1.42 lakh tonnes of coal from the yard of the state-run Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Ltd (BCMCL) has startled the authorities, who are yet to figure out what really happened at the yard site. A three-member committee, headed by Md Kamruzzaman, director (operations and mines) of Petrobangla, has been formed to investigate the incident of the stolen coal, valued at some Tk. 227 crore.
Speaking to The Independent yesterday, Kamruzzaman said: Unless we visit the site, we wont be able to make any comment. The probe team headed by Kamruzzaman will visit the BCMCL coal mining site in Dinajpur today (Monday). So far, weve heard the statements of a number of BCMCL officials. We need to verify those, said Kamruzzaman.
He, however, said the news about the coal theft was published in an exaggerated manner in some newspapers and it triggered a lot of speculation. He iterated that a thorough investigation is needed to figure out what actually happened.
Meanwhile, because of the acute shortage of coal, power generation is likely to come to a halt at the state-run Barapukuria coal-fired power plant anytime, disclosed an official associated with the Barapukuria coal-fired power plant.
Two of the three units of the 525-MG plant, which is primarily being run with the coal supplied by the BCMCL, are already inoperative. The third unit that is producing 140MW of electricity may be stopped anytime, said the official of the plant.
The plant requires about 5,200 tonnes of coal per day to generate 525MW electricity. The BCMCL authorities are now supplying 600 to 700 tonnes of coal. But this is not adequate to run the third unit. The plants third unit (with 275MW capacity) requires about 3,000 tonnes of coal per day to produce electricity, The Independent learned from the official.
