Brick kilns in Tripura are facing an acute shortage of coal, said the Tripura Brick Fields Manufacturing Association (TBFMA). President of the association Bivekananda Chowdhury said the crisis was due to the coal supply disruption in Meghalaya for the past two weeks. He said a meeting of kiln owners was held on Monday to assess the situation. Tripura has 280 operational brick kilns. “We are heading for a serious crisis as coal, the main fuel for our industry, has not been available for the last two weeks. Earlier, we used to procure coal from Meghalaya and other sources, but that supply has stopped. Neither coal-laden trucks are entering the state nor are we receiving any consignment through the railways,” Chowdhury said. The fuel supply from Meghalaya has been disrupted due to a blast in an illegal coal mine in the Thangsku area in the East Jaintia Hills district on February 5.
