Lanjigarh: Vedanta’s Alumina Refinery at Lanjigarh is operational with all precautionary measures against COVID-19 as advised by the Government and the health authorities. Considering the severity of the situation in the wake the spread of Corona, the plant is running with minimum workforce and resources ensuring the COVID-19 guidelines issued by the Central and State Authorities. The plant has all due permissions from the concerned authorities to continue its operations, with all the precautionary and preventive measures in place. The plant is running in complete harmony with the steps taken by the State Government and the local bodies and has ensured social distancing, sanitization, hygiene, restricted movement etc., within the plant periphery and the township proactively. The plant has communicated all necessary approaches and is working closely with the authorities to restrict the spread of the virus.
The continuity of operations is also important considering the importance of aluminium as a metal of strategic importance to the country. As the second most important metal in the world, it is a vital raw material for electrical distribution, aerospace, defence, building & construction etc. Vedanta, being India’s largest producer of aluminium, is trying to ensure that the production of the metal should continue even in this critical hour.
For Vedanta, the safety and well-being of the employees, contract workers and the communities are of utmost importance. The company has taken extensive measures to check the spread of COVID-19 across the operational facility, residential area and the communities, while keeping the operations on, in the safest possible manner. Vedanta’s 20-bedded Hospital at Lanjigarh, which is dedicated to provide 24 X 7 healthcare services to the local community, will provide support to the district administration. Vedanta’s Lanjigarh unit has taken several initiatives as part of the efforts to combat the spread of the disease in the area. The plant is collaborating with the self-help group (SHG) leaders, Anganwadi workers and health facilitators to spread awareness about the disease. The team is working in sync with the government and is collaborating with the district administration to ensure wider and deeper sensitization in the region. Vedanta’s Mobile Health Units (MHU) are continuously spreading awareness in the communities through public address systems.
Prasanta Patnaik