Bhubaneswar: The Odisha state Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) has issued a show cause notice to Tata Steel’s Sukinda chromite mine in Jajpur district for violating the pollution control norms in the area. The Board has warned the company to revoke its consent to operate if it does not take corrective measures to minimize the pollution caused by the mining in the area.
The OSPCB notice -1672 date January 21, 2016 came after toxic water discharged from the mines spilled over to farmlands wells in the vicinity and polluted the environment. The OSPCB in its letter has asked as to why consent to operate granted in favour of the mines till March 31, 2016 shall not be revoked and its application for consent to operate for the subsequent period 2016-17 to 2019-20 will not be refused in case the company fails to reply within a fortnight from the date of the issue of the notice. The OSPCB has warned stringent action in case the company fails to reply within the period. This is the first time the pollution Control Board has issued such kind of warning to Tata Steel.
Sources said the mine at Kalrangitta is spread over 406 hectres of land where the steel firm is engaged in mining of Chromite ore. The company has obtained clearance to raise till March 31, 2016, while it has applied to continue mining till 2020 ( The lease period of the merchant mine will expire after 2020 as per the new mining act ). The OSPCB officials had inspected the mining area in November last year to take stock of the pollution control measures adopted by the company. However, the official team had found that Tata Steel has not taken basic pollution control measures at the area. The company has not installed plant-suspended particulate matter (SPM) and particulate matter (PM) in laboratory building, Chrome ore beneficiation plant and in the mining complex. As a result toxic water gets spilled over to the haulage road and results in air and water pollution.
Leave a Reply