Union Coal Secretary Inaugurates SECL's 'Chhal' Rail Siding

• 23 May 2023

Why in News?

On 20 May 2023, Union Coal Ministry Secretary Amrit Lal Meena during his two-day visit to Chhattisgarh inaugurated the 'Chhal' rail siding at SECL, Raigarh region and took stock of the progress of two rail corridors being developed on special purpose vehicle (SPV) model in the state.

Key points

• Coal Secretary Amrit Lal Meena reviewed the rail projects of Chhattisgarh East Railway Limited (CERL) and Chhattisgarh East Western Railway Limited (CEWRL) with officials of Southeast Central Railway (SECR) at SECL headquarters in Bilaspur.
• On the second day of his visit to Chhattisgarh, the Coal Secretary inaugurated the bark siding and flagged off the rail rakes. He also inspected the railway line being constructed from Gevra Road to Pendra Road under Chhattisgarh East West Railway Limited (CEWRL) project at Korba Coalfields of SECL.
• The bark siding has been constructed under Chhattisgarh East Railway Limited's (CERL) Phase One project and will connect the bark mine of Raigarh region directly by rail & coal will be dispatched directly by rail from here.
• The Chhattisgarh East Railway Limited (CERL) Phase 1 project, being built at a cost of over Rs 3,000 crore, aims to connect the Mand-Raigarh coalfields by rail.
• Under this 24 km long project, 74 km long mail line from Kharsia to Dharam Jaigarh has been commissioned. It also includes spur lines from Gharghoda to Pelma and feeder lines from Chhaal, Baroda and Durgapur.
• Mand-Raigarh coalfields are second only to Korba coalfields in terms of coal reserves and as coal production increases, these rail projects will play an important role in sending more and more coal in the coming time.
• This project will play an important role in the transportation of coal from SECL's mega projects operating in Korba coalfield. The project is 191 km long which includes 135.3 km of main line.
• The projects include Gevra Road, Surkachar, Deepka, Katghora Road, Bijhara, Putua, Mateen, Sendurgarh, Puteipakhana, Bhadi, Dhangawan and Pendra Road stations. Passenger amenities will also be developed along the railway line in the entire corridor at these stations.
• The total cost of the CEWRL project is about Rs 4970 crore and land acquisition & forest clearance for its main line has been completed. The project is likely to be completed by December next year.
• SECL's Geva mega project has recently become the first mine in the country to achieve 50 million tonnes of coal production. It is currently being expanded to achieve 70 million tonnes of production which will make it the largest coal producing mine in Asia.