The Singareni Collieries Company Limited, Kothagudem – Part I

The Singareni Collieries Company Limited is a Government owned Coal mining Company in Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh with its operations in four districts and its Head Office at Kothagudem in Khammam District.

Since a long time, I have been thinking of writing on my association with Kothagudem and ‘The Singareni Collieries Company’ but it has been possible only now. Kothagudem has been my second home for almost 30 years. To write on 30 years of happy association with this Town and Company would turn out to be a book of several pages, interesting to the family but perhaps not so to every other reader. Here at my blog I will write in brief about the Singareni Collieries Company and Kothagudem Town and our association with them in perhaps two parts and post whatever relevant photographs I can find from our albums.

My family has been associated with the Singareni Collieries Company Limited and Kothagudem from 1952 that is from a time before my birth and up to 1982. Though we left the place in 1982, our association with Singareni Collieries still continues as share holders of the Company, of course of a microscopic value. We are kept informed about all Board meetings and their Annual performance Reports even today. And as for Kothagudem Town we still have a number of acquaintances there with whom we have very cordial relations.

My father, Sri N. Bhaskarachary joined The Singareni Collieries Company Limited at Kothagudem as Personnel Manager in April 1952. The total strength of employees at that time was about 9,000. There was no Personnel Department as such until then. The welfare part of the workmen was looked after by Doctors posted in different Coal mining areas and the recruitment by the respective mining area in-charges. My father joined Singareni Collieries after serving ‘H.E.H. The Nizam’s Railway’ and the Central Railway of Indian Government for 16 years as Personnel Manager and Officer on Special duty. At Singareni Collieries he established the Personnel Department. At the time of his retirement the Company had 76,000 workmen spread over Coal Mines in four districts of Andhra Pradesh.

I began my studies at Kothagudem at the St. Mary’s Girls High School. I studied from Montessori to Sixth class at St. Mary’s. Thereafter, at the age of eleven I was shifted to our home in Secunderabad to pursue further studies. And during all those years of my Middle school, High school and College education I and my brother eagerly waited for vacations to join my parents, sister and childhood friends at Kothagudem. The vacation time at Kothagudem was always the best part of my younger days. Though it is a small town there were plenty of Comics in circulation and then as I grew up it was Novels. There was the pursuit of many hobbies among us friends. We played a number of games in our spacious Company bungalow. We had facilities to play a variety of games at the KCOA and Yellandu Clubs. While I was in my XI and XII Classes I played Cricket for the Singareni Collieries Cricket Club and participated in a number of matches and two Tournaments.

Later after I completed my B.E. Electrical Engineering Course, I joined the Singareni Collieries Company as an Asst. Engineer at Kothagudem. And after working for four years I resigned from the Company and shifted to Secunderabad.

Kothagudem is 270 Kms. from Hyderabad. It had many Coal Mines during our stay there but now there are fewer mines. The town is spread over a large area because of the distant location of the mines. Area wise the town is more or less the same over all these years but it is now densely populated with more buildings everywhere, wider roads, large number of shops, restaurants, lodges, doctors and nursing homes.

I have posted here a number of old pictures associated with the mining related operations of the Singareni Collieries. I hope you have found them interesting. I shall write more about Singareni Collieries in Part-II of this topic.

P.S. You may click on the following link to reach several of my photo-articles / blog posts on Kothagudem, Singareni Collieries, Bhadrachalam, Godavari River, Parnashala, Kinnerasani and Papikondalu:

http://srisrilara.blogspot.in/2013/08/list-and-links-to-my-blog-posts-on.html