Raipur, Jan 7 (IANS) Coal production and its shipments were hit hard Wednesday at the South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) mines in Chhattisgarh as workers stayed away from work as part of the five-day ongoing strike called by trade unions.

“On the second day of the five-day strike, production was halted at majority of the mines including Gevra mine in Korba district, which is Asia’s largest open cast mine,” said an official from the SECL headquarters in Bilaspur.

Policemen were deployed at mines located in Kusmunda, Dipka, Gevra, Chirmiri, Bhatgaon, Baikunthpur, Bisrampur and Hasdeo, but workers formed a human chain at the main entrance gates and did not allow even officials to enter.

The striking employees raised slogans against the National Democratic Alliance regime and called the deployment of police force “a move to terrorise workers to give up their agitation”.

SECL is the largest coal producing company in the country. The coal reserves of SECL are spread over Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh and the company operates 89 mines, with 54 mines in Chhattisgarh alone.