Jharsugudam 29 Jan. 2019: The PC Mishra Commission formed by NGT to probe the Vedanta ash pond breach case today conducted an over-all survey in the Katikela area.The panel led by former member of National Green Tribunal PC Mishra along with Jharsuguda additional tehsildar Golak Bihari Mangaraj, and State Pollution Control Board regional officer Niranjan Mallick had also conducted a survey at Katikela on Monday.
The Green panel today visited the nearby villages which suffered extensive damage after the ash pond boundary wall collapsed. Apart from visiting illegal ash dumping sites in the locality, Commissioner Mishra also held discussions with the villagers.
Notably, on August 28 2017, hundreds of acres of agricultural land were submerged in ash following a breach in the dump yard boundary wall of Vedanta Captive Power Plant. Moreover, the ecological balance of the nearby villages was also hampered as the ash entered the water bodies.
Following this, the regional environment protection Unit filed a complaint with the NGT. Taking up the petition for hearing, the tribunal appointed former member PC Mishra to probe the issue by visiting the affected areas in Jharsuguda and submit the report within three weeks.
As per the direction, Mishra arrived at Jharsuguda on Monday and conducted survey today. Reportedly, he has left after collecting the survey report.
The next hearing of the case will be conducted on February 4 after the submission of the probe report.
Prasanta Patnaik