Nagpur: Farmers of Wadara village of Parseoni Tehsil in Nagpur district on Thursday started protesting against Gondegaon coal washery that is releasing polluted coal water into nearby areas and damaging agriculture lands.
Due to the agitation, the working of the washery got hampered throughout the day. The villagers are demanding a stop to pollution of nearby farms by the company and till then the work will be stopped. “Hundreds of hectares of land got damaged due to coal dust and coal water that is released by the washery in nearby agricultural lands. We raised the matter before the district administration and they declared compensation but the company had not paid it so far,” said Vidya Chikhale, Sarpanch, Wadara village.
Gold Rate
Monday 31March 2025
Not allowing the coal-laden trucks to enter the premises, the agitated farmers demanded closure of the polluting unit which has been completely destroying their crops and polluting the air ever since it started. Over the last few days, agricultural fields of nearly 15 farmers were rendered completely useless as coal-laden water overflowed into their farms.
“The company is continuously releasing coal water and during monsoon rain it enters into our agriculture lands. We faced huge loss due to this pollution. But, the company betrayed the farmers and no action has been taken so far from their side to mitigate pollution,” said the Sarpanch.
According to villagers, the washery is a dry form. The coal is stored in 20-22 ft high heaps and the coal dust is causing huge pollution in 3 km nearby areas. As per the sources, the coal washery started in 2021 and because of violation of environment norms by the company, the coal dust is severely impacting the crop which has gone down by almost 75%.
Despite repeated complaints to the washery, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), State Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and other authorities, the washery continued its operations.
The officials of washery, which is run by the Maharashtra Minerals Mining and Benefication Private Limited, had promised to hold a meeting with the villagers. But when the latter didn’t hear them, they stormed the washery premises forcing the officials to step out to meet them.
