BHUBANESWAR: Sundargarh BJP MLA Kusum Tete has requested the State Government to defer the date fixed by Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) for a general meeting on capacity expansion of Vedanta smelter plant at Jharsuguda.
Writing to Chief Secretary and Chairman of the State Pollution Control Board Asit Tripathy, the BJP lawmaker said it would not possible for her to attend the meeting scheduled to be held on September 30 in view of the shutdown imposed in Jharsuguda and adjoining areas from September 26 to October 3 due to rise of Covid cases in the region.
As environment impact assessment (EIA) for the proposed expansion is one of the agenda of the meeting, Tete suggested that the job should be entrusted to a reputed engineering college like Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) or National Institute of Technology (NIT) for proper assessment.
Alleging serious negligence by Vedanta Limited in the management of ash pond, the BJP legislator said, “The ash management of the captive power plants of the company is being done in a haphazard manner and its impact has serious consequences to the environment, agricultural land as well as rivers of both Jharsuguda and Sundargarh districts.”
A BJP fact finding team which visited the affected areas recently saw the adverse impact of the ash pond breach in August 2017 causing extensive damage to crops besides, creating health hazards in the nearby locality. Tete was one of the members of the team.
She said around 5 million tonnes of toxic ash poured out and damaged paddy crops on 100 acres of land before flowing into river.
She requested the Chief Secretary to hold the meeting at a suitable date for extensive deliberation of all relevant issues pertaining to project expansion.
Vedanta Limited has proposed to expand its aluminium smelter unit at Jharsuguda from 1.6 million tonne per annum (MTPA) to 1.8 MTPA.