Due to a scarcity of explosives, the country’s lone stone quarry has ceased operations. Since Saturday, the state-owned Madhyapara Granite Mine Company (MGMCL) has been unable to supply the requisite ‘Ammonium Nitrate’ explosives (March 12). In addition, the government must compute a daily loss of Rs. 1 crore 36 lakh.
It is a managerial failure, according to experts. This problem, according to Petrobangla, is only temporary. It is possible to restart explosives production in the following two weeks.
In 2006, the country’s lone stone quarry, located in Dinajpur, began commercial production. After a series of setbacks, the government inked a six-year agreement with the German Strait Consortium of Belarus in 2013 to produce it. In the fiscal year 2018-19, the state-owned firm achieved a profit of nearly Rs 6 crore.
The Department of Mineral Resources signed a new six-year deal with the same company last October. This mine employed approximately 750 people, including laborers, who worked 24 hours a day, three shifts. MGMCL supplied explosives for quarrying in the mine’s depths. The contractor was unable to continue production after Saturday due to a lack of funds.
A total of 5,000 metric tons of hard rock were taken per day from this mine. This high-quality stone was being used in numerous big projects including Rooppur nuclear power station. Experts believe that the closure of production of such critical and sensitive installations due to a lack of explosives demonstrates the responsible parties’ shortsightedness.
