Fire in WCL coalmine due to spontaneous heating of coal

Nagpur, Feb 28 (UNI) A fire has been raging for the last two days in a reopened mine of Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) due to spontaneous heating of the coal.

The mine is located in Chandrapur district of Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

A WCL spokesman told UNI ''The fire broke out two days ago in the mouth of a gallery of the Ballarpur opencast mine because of spontaneous heating of the coal, which was a common occurrence in mines. The flames had been extinguished in two 'galleries,' but were still raging in six others, the spokesman said. Efforts were being made to put the fire out by putting incombustible material on it, as water could not be used, he said.

There had been no loss of life, and the extent of the damage caused by the fire has not yet been ascertained, the spokesman said.

''Technically, we have not incurred any loss since the full potential of the mine has been utilised. In fact, we have been extracting excess production,'' he said.

The mine was originally an underground one when it opened in 1905, adding that it got water-logged in 1970, and was subsequently abandoned since it was considered that no more coal could be extracted from it. However, it was reopened in 1991 using an advanced technique whereby old underground mines are converted into opencast mines to extract the remaining deposits of coal in them, he said. The production since has been 'good,' and WCL had earned sizeable revenue thereon, the spokesman added.

UNI