Pollution board asks Bhushan to shut down power plant

Move followed a blast at the site that killed two workers, injured 16 others last week

Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) has directed Bhushan Steel Limited (BSL) to shut down its power unit and steel rolling mill at its Meramundali plant in Dhenkanal district, following a blast at the site that killed two workers and injured 16 others last week.

“Bhushan did not have environment clearance nor consent of operation from pollution control board to commission its blast furnace II, where the accident occurred on November 14. We have asked it to shut down the blast furnace along with its power plant and a rolling mill, for which it did not have necessary permission either,” said L K Tiwary, member secretary of OSPCB.

The blast furnace has already been closed since last week following an order by the state factories and boilers department, after the blast.

BSL currently operates a 3 million tonne per annum (MTPA) integrated steel plant in Odisha, along with a 155 Mw coal-fired power plant. It has plans to double the steel production capacity to 6 MTPA by December 2013. But a deadly blast during commissioning of second blast furnace could delay the expansion plan for a couple of months at least.  

It has already added sponge iron, pig iron, billets, slabs and hot-rolled coils to its product mix. The company is devoid of any iron ore linkage and is sourcing the raw material from state controlled miner Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) and private suppliers. It has filed many applications for iron ore leases, but they are still pending at the state government level.