BHUBANESWAR: BJP MP from Bargarh Suresh Pujari on Monday demanded a judicial probe into the ash pond breach incident at Ib Thermal power station that inundated farmlands and caused extensive damage to standing crops in the area recently.
Raising the issue during zero hour, Pujari said the ash pond collapsed due to faulty design following which the slurry from the pond flowed into paddy fields spread across 150 acre land in Kantatikira, Sardhapali and nearby villages and into the Mahanadi river system causing concern among the locals.
Pujari said the power plant owned and operated by the Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) had signed an MoU with IIT, Chennai to provide technical assistance for the construction of the ash pond. It has now come to light that OPGC compromised heavily with the MoU during the construction of the ash pond, the consequences of which everyone sees now. This needed to be probed.
“I have appealed to the Central government through the chairman of the Lok Sabha to direct the state government to conduct a judicial probe into the ash pond collapse and pay due compensation to the farmers towards crop loss and reclamation of the croplands,” Pujari said.
He further requested the lower house of the Parliament to constitute a high-level committee comprising senior officers from the Ministry of Power, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Jal Shakti to visit the spot and assess the extent of damage caused to the environment and river water.
Sources in OPGC said steps have been taken for repair of the breach measuring 20 feet wide and investigation is underway. Steps will be taken as per the investigation report.