Jamshedpur: An indefinite hunger strike-cum-sit-in by workers of the cement plant at Jhinkpani, their families and supporters in Chaibasa, West Singhbhum district, ended within six hours on Monday after officials assured them that efforts would be made to find a solution.Around 40 protesters, under the banner of ACC Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, gathered outside the old deputy commissioner’s office, seeking immediate state intervention to prevent the shutdown of the eight-decade-old plant. The unit is scheduled to close permanently from Aug 16, owing to depletion of limestone reserves.“Our sole demand from the govt is to prevent the closure of the plant at any cost,” Samiti convener Ramesh Balmuchu said.Balmuchu said that SDO Sanjay Kumar assured the protesters that a tripartite meeting involving the plant management, workers and district administration would be convened within a week. “We called off the sit-in following the SDO’s assurance,” he said.Workers’ union vice-president Siddharth Hesa warned that the closure could trigger a regional crisis. “The closure of the 80-year-old cement plant will spell disaster for the entire Chaibasa region, which has largely depended on its successful operation,” he said. Nearly 1,500 workers, including 74 permanent employees, would be directly affected, he added.Cement production was suspended on April 1 after clinker supplies from Bargarh and Sindri stopped following the expiry of supply arrangements on March 31. Operations ceased completely on May 3 after the captive 15 MW power plant was shut down.A company notice attributed the proposed closure to exhausted limestone reserves, rising clinker costs and ageing, inefficient facilities that had made operations economically unviable.Balmuchu said chief minister Hemant Soren’s July 16 assurance to send an assessment team was yet to be fulfilled.
