Orissa unlikely to take stringent action against Vedanta

The Orissa government is unlikely to take stringent action against Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) which has proceeded ahead with expansion work on its alumina refinery plant at Lanjigarh without prior environmental clearance.

In its order dated October 21, the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) stated that the secretary (forest and environment), Orissa government shall take legal action under the provisions of Environment Protection Act, 1986 for violation of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification.

“We cannot take any stringent action against VAL which has only gone ahead with expansion of its alumina refinery plant from one million tonne per annum (mtpa) to six mtpa. Besides, the company has claimed that it has the environmental clearance for the one mtpa and it does not require any separate environmental clearance for pursuing expansion work as it has not gone for any change in technology or process”, a top official of the state government told Business Standard.

He stated that a team of officials of the state forest and environment department may visit the alumina refinery site of VAL to check any violation, adding, “At best, we can only impose a penalty on the company”.

It may be noted that VAL has already invested Rs 5000 crore on the expansion plan of its refinery from one mtpa to six mtpa and that of its CPP from 75 MW to 300 MW. It has also completed around 60 per cent of the construction work of expansion. The expansion work involved an investment of Rs 10,000 crore.

The MoEF in its order dated October 21, has slammed the door on the company's expansion plans. The ministry has however, allowed VAL to maintain status quo and continue operations of its one mtpa refinery. The ministry has stated categorically that the company can source bauxite only from those mines which have prior environmental clearance.

The ministry has further stated that the Terms of Reference (TOR) issued to the company on March 12, 2009 for expansion of the alumina refinery from one mtpa to six mtpa and that of CPP from 75 Mw to 300 Mw is withdrawn and consequently, the public hearing conducted on April 25, 2009 stands cancelled.

VAL has been asked to maintain status quo at the project site without undertaking any further construction work in respect of its expansion project.

The MoEF has also directed VAL to submit an irrevocable bank guarantee for an amount of Rs 10 crore valid for a period of three years, within 15 days to the Orissa State Pollution Control Board for implementation of all environmental protection measures.

Moreover, VAL shall cover 25 per cent of the plant area by raising green belt within two years. The selection of the plant species shall be as per the agro-climate zone, preferable with the native species.

The company shall submit the detailed plan for 'Green Belt Development and Plantation' within 90 days showing the area to be covered, plant density and plant species, to the MoEF and complete the implementation of this plan within a period of two years.

VAL has also been instructed by the ministry to immediately install peizometers around the red mud and ash ponds to monitor the ground water level, fluctuations and quality parameters on a quarterly basis.