The coal reserve in Bihar has got bigger with the detection of two more coal blocks in Bhagalpur district, said a coal ministry official on Friday.
The two new coal blocks, Mirzagaon and Lakshmipur, have been identified by Coal Mine Planning and Design Institute Limited (CMPDIL), Ranchi-based central public sector enterprise (CPSE), after thorough exploration and geological analysis of the coal reserve and its quality.
The CMPDI had detected the first coal reserve in Bihar near Mandar Parvat, about 10km away from Kahalgaon railway station in Bhagalpur district. It has reserve of around 340 million tonnes (MTs). Mandar Pravat coal block was put to auction in the recent bidding of 141 mines by the coal ministry. However, it did not find any bidder.
As per the CMPDIL report, Mirzagaon coal block, which has estimated reserve of 2300 MTs, is spread over 37 square kilometres and possesses generally good quality of coal. “Mirzagaon block is a huge reserve and hence it has been divided in two sub-blocks, north and south, for easy mining. The block is located about 12 km northwest of Bhagalpur railway station,” said the CMPDIL official, who was not willing to be named.
As per the report, north block of Mirzagaon is spread in over 16.60 square kilometres, encircling 10 villages of Khidarpur, Lacchmipur, Basantpur, Chaudhary Basantpur, Bijairami Chak, Moheshram, Madangopali, Sadipur and Rifadpur of Pirpaiti tehsil. It has coal reserve of 1030 MTs. The south block is spread in over 20.30 sq km area and has reserve of 1260 MTs coal of different grades ranging from G-2 to G-17.
The Lakshmipur coal block is located 51 km from Bhagalpur and 21 km from Kahalgaon railway station. Spread in over 14.9 sq kms, it has the tentative coal reserve of 1035 MTs around seven villages of Simralpur, Kakarghat, Khidarpur, Imamnagar, Mohesharam and Harinkol.
After the creation of Jharkhand out of Bihar in 2000, the latter was left with no coal mine.
Bihar’s finance minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary said coal mining, which comes with environmental challenges, would add up to revenue of the state. “Mining of coal, once it starts, will also ease the issue of coal supply to thermal power stations and other industries in Bihar,” Chaudhary said, adding that the Centre should urgently and expeditiously undertake surveys and feasibility testing for mining of other minerals in the state.
A senior analyst of the CMPDIL said that all blocks so far identified and partially explored contain good quality of coal and could last nearly 25-30 years of mining. “However, the main issue is huge deposit of alluvial soil (in depth of 100 metre) as overburden (OB). Unlike Jharkhand and other coal-producing regions in the country, outer surface of the coal block is so vulnerable that it might cave in case of heavy rains. We need to find out technical solutions for it,” said the analyst.
