Mancherial | May 22, 2017:

Blistering heat wave conditions are not only affecting general public, but also taking toll on performance of Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), with seeing decline in attendance of its employees. Authorities of coal major say that they are taking a slew of measures to help the workforce cope with the heat.

Mancherial district has been registering over 44 degrees Centigrade of heat since a week. In particular, coal belt areas such as Sri Rampur, Bellampalli, Mandamarri, Srirampur and Mancherial towns are reportedly recording at least two degrees more than that of other areas, following mining activity. Workers are hesitating to enter open cast mining projects (OCP) in the wake of scorching heat wave conditions.

Consequently, attendance percentage of employees has drastically dropped down due to poor turnout. “Around 20 per cent of total workforce are absent for duties as they are tensed to step inside (OCPs). This can strikingly be seen during second shift which starts at 3 pm and ends at 11 pm, with the district seeing around 45 degrees Centigrade,” stated an official of the SCCL. The workers fear that their health might be affected if they work in severe heat conditions. Those who are attending duties are seen taking shelter under shades of trees and vehicles. Due to extensive usage of mining machinery and the coal gets heat due to exposure to sunlight, employees are witness somewhat higher temperatures in OCPs, reasoned a worker.

In order to help the workers handle simmering heat, authorities of the state-owned coal major make certain arrangements. Timings of shifts have been altered, besides supplying sachets of oral rehydration salt, butter milk to staffs who work in the projects, braving heat. Shades were also erected in and around the mines.

(Source: https://telanganatoday.com/)