Parbatipur: Stone extraction at Maddhapara Granite Mining Company Limited (MGMCL) in Parbatipur upazila of Dinajpur district has been suspended again due to a shortage of ammonium nitrate, an explosive material used for breaking underground rock layers.
According to United News of Bangladesh, contractor company Germania Trench Consortium (GTC) stopped stone extraction from Tuesday due to the shortage. Officials hope that the operations will resume in the first week of June after a fresh consignment of ammonium nitrate arrives from Thailand.
Managing Director of MGMCL, Engineer DM Zobaed Hossain, stated that ammonium nitrate is being imported from Thailand, but global factors have caused delays in shipment. Various types of explosives, including ammonium nitrate, are required to break rock layers inside the mine. The mine requires explosives worth Tk 5-6 crore annually, all of which must be imported from abroad.
Mine authorities reported that stone extraction at the mine had previously been suspended due to explosive shortages for 22 days in 2014, two months in 2015, and seven days in 2018.