thar coal up date

MITHI, April 29: Expressing dissatisfaction over the pace of work, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Friday directed the authorities concerned to expedite the ongoing work on the underground coal gasification project (UCG) in block-V of the Thar coal area.


Mr Shah along with some members of his cabinet inspected the work going on near village Babhinio Bheel.

The chief minister and his cabinet members were given a briefing by the UCG Managing Director Mohammad Bashir and Mines and Mineral Secretary Aijaz Ali Khan about the progress of the underground coal gasification project.

They said that out of 42 drilling holes, 35 had been completed. Hundred megawatts were expected to be produced in the next two-and-a-half years from the UCG project spread over an area of 64 square kilometres and consisting of 1.4 billion tonnes of coal.

Expressing their dissatisfaction on the slow pace of work, ministers Jam Saifullah Dharejo, Rafiq Engineer and others said that although the chairman of the UCG project, Dr Samar Mubarak, was claiming that its test burn would take place in March, it was yet to be conducted.

Clarifying the position, the project MD said that the expected test burn could not be conducted so far because of a delay in the arrival of compressors and other machinery.

He said that orders had been placed, but the supply had apparently been delayed by the Japanese government due to the devastation caused by tsunami there.

He claimed that five megawatts would be produced from the project in the next three months.

A minister, Rafiq Engineer, asked the MD whether the UCG management was providing jobs to the locals on a priority basis.

Upon which, the MD claimed that so far 127 people of Thar had been given employment in the UCG project.

The mines and mineral secretary said that the drilling holes survey work was going on in blocks 9 and 10 of the Thar coal area.

Revenue Minister Jam Mehtab Dahar asked as to why the survey work was being done in two more blocks despite the fact that no practical work had started in the eight blocks already surveyed.

Speaking to reporters, the CM said Thar had 175.5 billion tonnes of coal deposits and many international companies were interested in investment in the coal projects here.

Senior Minister Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq, Information Minister Sharjil Memon, Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani, Senator Gul Mohammad Laat, Taj Haider and others were also present at this occasion.