Cuttack, Apr 28 (PTI) The Orissa High Court has been apprised that the ongoing coal crisis of aluminium major NALCO has been resolved following a discussion among the stakeholders concerned.The High Court, which on April 25 had directed three Union secretaries (mines, coal, and power), and the Chairman of the Railway Board to sit together, in virtual or hybrid mode, with the chairman-cum-managing directors of the MCL and NALCO to find a way within 24 hours for resolving the crisis so that NALCO’s smelter plant at Angul and its Alumina refinery at Damanjodi were not pushed to the brink of a shutdown, was informed about the outcome of the discussion on Wednesday.The meeting of the three secretaries was held on Tuesday.In an order passed on April 27, the High Court made it clear that the Union secretaries, the Railway Board Chairman, and CMDs of the two PSUs have reached an agreement for the continuation of coal supply to NALCO plants.“Railways to maintain the supply of 58 to 60 rakes per day to Talcher coalfield area and the Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) will ensure coal supply to NALCO plants by Railways, road transport, and MGR (Merry go round) system,” as per the agreement.The coal requirement of NALCO’s captive power plant and its smelter at Angul would be met by a combination of supply mostly through MGR (a dedicated rail line connecting the pithead with the smelter plant) system and road transport, according to the agreement.While 5,000 to 6,000 tonne per day will be supplied to NALCO through the existing MGR system, another 5,000 to 6,000 tonne per day will reach the aluminium major’s premises through road transport, the agreement said. Another 1,000 to 2,000 tonne of coal per day will be supplied to NALCO by use of railway sidings.It was also decided that the MGR system will be strengthened and repaired by MCL and NALCO to suitably increase the supply of coal.Appreciating the move, the division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice RK Pattanaik said, “In order to ensure that the solution is implemented immediately, the court considers it appropriate not to continue with the interim order already passed and to await the result of the implementation of the arrangement.” Earlier, the Nalco’s Officer’s Association had moved the High Court seeking its intervention as the company was facing a shortage of dry fuel due to the disturbance of coal supply by MCL.The association had expressed concern that the company’s overall performance and its profitability would be impacted if NALCO’s independent power plant (IPP) and smelter did not get the required quantity of coal. PTI COR AAM MM MM