Coal production at Barapukuria mine suspended for gas leakage

FE Team | Published: September 05, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

The coal production in the second phase of the Barapukuria Coal Mine in Dinajpur was again suspended Tuesday due to leakage of gas, reports UNB.
Reports received in Dhaka said that the authority was forced to halt the operation at 12 noon when the Carbon Monoxide gas was wobbling out through leakage of the mine.
Sources said Petrobangla Chairman Sheikh Abdur Rashid, who visited the coal mine last Sunday, held meeting with officials of the Chinese company Tuesday night.
Earlier, coal production was suspended on October 4, 2005, following a similar problem.
After two years of the suspension the coal production began on August 18. But within 16 days of resumption of production, the operation came to a halt.
"We had no option but to suspend the operation and seal off the phase-II of the mine since the gas leakage took a serious turn â€¦ But we are hopeful of resuming operation soon," a top official at the Barapukuria Coal Mine told the news agency by phone.
Chinese Company CMC, which developed the mine, has been engaged in production and maintenance of the country's first coal mine for the last few years.
The Barapukuria mine officials said that after the suspension of the second phase, the production would again fall substantially.
The coal production will come down to 1,500 tonnes from 3,500 tonnes after the shutdown of the second phase. This would compel the adjoining power plant authorities to import coal for keeping the plant operational, said an official.
The 250MW power plant was running with coal from Barapukuria.
He said the incident would lead to an increase in the production cost as well as the possibility of lower extraction of coal than planned.
The production cost has increased to US$ 110 per tonne from less than US$ 50 at the initial stage because of the recurring incidents and inefficient operation.
The Barapukuria Coal Mine has been facing various problems, including flooding and gas leakage since beginning of the mining.