Soil testing begins in Ramagundam

SIDDIPALLI (KARIMNAGAR DISTRICT): The Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has begun Open Cast Project- II expansion works in Ramagundam area for coal mining.The first core testing programme was launched recently by taking up soil testing between Siddipalli and Ratnapur. As per the direction of geologists, soil tests will be conducted at every 500 metre distance between the two places to find coal deposits.In its first soil test, Singareni Collieries found no coal deposits even at the depth of 260 metres. The officials said they would drill holes up to the depth of 300 using advanced technology. The geologists will mark the soil testing points. If coal deposits are found, the geologists will select the point for coal mining after estimating the quantity of black gold deposits, said supervisor Murali who is overseeing the programme near Siddipalli.People of Ramaiahpalli, Siddipalli, Akkapalli, Rachchapalli, Adyala, Rajapur and Ladhnapur villages are likely to be displaced because of the OCP-II expansion. At public hearings, some villagers alleged that officials were forcibly acquiring their lands without paying compensation.An SCCL’s survey said, about 10,000 million tonnes of coal deposits are available in the Singareni belt.