Lok Sabha Question No. 3654 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-20
Subject: Unauthorised Disposal of Ash
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Suresh Pujari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 3654

TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.12.2021

## Unauthorised Disposal of Ash

## 3654.   SHRI SURESH PUJARI:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether there has been any progress in the enquiry/ examination of the issue of Air and Water pollution caused due to unauthorised disposal of fly ash by the industries in the  district  Jharsuguda  of  Bargarh  PC  in  Odisha  by  the  Central  Pollution  Control Board;
- (b) if not, the expected time by when it is likely to be taken up by the Central Pollution Control Board;
- (c) if so, the report submitted by the Board; and
- (d) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  give  direction  to  the  Board  to  cause  enquiry without the knowledge of any quarter so that truth about pollution and its degree can be ascertained without any cover up?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a) to(d) Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change  (MoEF&CC)  has  sought inquiry  report  from  the  Central  Pollution  Control  Board  (CPCB).  On  the directions  of  CPCB,  the  State  Pollution  Control  Board,  Odisha  has  conducted enquiry on the compliance of fly ash utilization and its disposal by thermal power plants located in Jharsuguda District, Odisha.

A copy of the report  submitted  by  State  Pollution  Control  Board,  Odisha  dated 26.10.2021 is enclosed as Annexure-1 .

***

## Enquiry Report on alleged environmental pollution due to unscientific disposal of fly ash by the industries of Jharsuguda District

(Matter raised under Rule 377 by Sri Suresh Pujari Hon'ble MP Lok Sabha)

A letter was received on 22.09.2021 from the Head Office SPCB, Odisha, Bhubaneswar to submit  an  enquiry  report  regarding  alleged  environmental  pollution  due  to  unscientific disposal  of  fly  ash  by  the  industries  of  Jharsuguda  district  as  raised  under  rule  377  by  Sri Suresh Pujari, Hon'ble MP, Lok Sabha. In this regard, the details of the report are as follows: -

Fly Ash is generated due to the burning of Coal in the thermal power plants. There are 5 nos of  industries  having  thermal  power  plants  operating  in  the  district  of  Jharsuguda  and generating fly ash.

## 1. M/s. Vedanta Ltd. Bhurkhamunda, Jharsuguda.

-  M/s. Vedanta Ltd. has two thermal power plants  i.e;  Captive  Power  Plant  of  capacity 1215 MW and Thermal Power Plant of capacity 2400 MW. Consent to Operate of both the  thermal  power  plant  is  valid  upto  31.03.2022.  Hybrid  ESP's  are  provided  for  the treatment  of  boiler  emissions  before  let  out  to  the  atmosphere  through  two  stacks  of 275m  height  as  pollution  control  measures.  The  unit  has  installed  online  Continuous Ambient  Monitoring  Systems  for  ambient  air  monitoring  and  online  Continuous Emission Monitoring System for source emission through stack. The online systems are connected to the server of SPCB and CPCB for real time data transmission.
-  Coal consumption of the unit is about 18 Million Tonne per Annum and Ash generation is about 7 Million Tonne per Annum. The industry has adopted high concentration ash slurry  disposal  system  (HCSD)  and  the  ash  slurry  is  being  transported  from  the  ash handling  plants  to  the  designated  ash  ponds  through  pipeline.  It  has  three  nos  of  Ash Pond at Kurebaga, Katikela and Siriapali for disposing high concentration ash slurry. It has also been utilising fly ash for various purposes like ash pond dyke raising, cement industries, brick units, reclamation of low-lying areas, road and fly over constructions, abandoned  quarry  filling  etc.  for  achieving  100%  utilization  as  per  the  Fly  ash notification S.O.2804 E, 3 rd November 2009. It has been doing reclamation of low-lying area  by  utilizing  fly  ash  and  is  obtaining  separate  Consent  to  Establish  (CTE)  and Consent to Operate (CTO) as per the guidelines of SPCB Odisha.

## 2. M/s. Ib Thermal Power Station (OPGC), At/Po - Banharpali, Jharsuguda

-  M/s. Ib Thermal Power Station (OPGC), At/Po - Banharpali, Jharsuguda, is  aThermal Power Plant consisting of 4 units out of which two units are 210 MW capacities each and rest  two  units  are  660  MW  each.  Consent  to  operate  of  the  industry  is  valid  upto 31.03.2022. ESPs have been provided as pollution control measures for the treatment of the boiler emissions before let out to the atmosphere through the stack height of 220 mas pollution control measures. The unit has installed online Continuous Ambient Monitoring  Systems  for  ambient  air  monitoring  and  online  Continuous  Emission Monitoring System for source emission through stack. The online systems are connected to the server of SPCB and CPCB for real time data transmission.
-  Coal consumption of the unit is about 3.5Million Tonne per Annum and Ash generation is  about  1.3  Million  Tonne  per  Annum.Fly  Ash  generated from  the  unit  is transported through lean slurry method to the 2 nos of designated ash ponds, located at Rengali and Tilia. It has been utilising fly ash for various purposes like ash pond dyke raising, cement industries, brick units, reclamation of low-lying areas, road and fly over constructions, abandoned  quarry  filling  etc.  for  achieving  100%  utilization  as  per  the  Fly  ash notification S.O.2804 E, 3 rd November 2009. It has been doing reclamation of low-lying area  by  utilizing  fly  ash  and  is  obtaining  separate  Consent  to  Establish  (CTE)  and Consent to Operate (CTO) as per the guidelines of SPCB Odisha.

## 3. M/s. SMC Power Generation Ltd, At-Hirma, Dist-Jharsuguda.

-  M/s SMC Power Generation Ltd has also a captive thermal power plant of capacity 17 MW (AFBC). Consent to operate granted to the unit is valid up to 31.03.2023 .ESPs have been  installed  as  pollution  control  equipment  for  the  treatment  of  flue  gas  emissions before let out of the atmosphere through the stack height of 70 m.The unit has installed online Continuous Ambient Monitoring Systems for ambient air monitoring and online Continuous Emission Monitoring System for source emission through stack. The online systems are connected to the server of SPCB and CPCB for real time data transmission.
-  Coal consumption of the unit is about 80 Metric Tonne per Annum and Ash generation about 52 Metric Tonne per Annum. Fly Ash generated from the unit is being disposed off in the low-lying areas of the plant premises as stipulated in CTO order. It has also been utilizing fly ash for brick making and other purposes.

## 4. M/s.  Thakur  Prasad.  Sao  &  Sons  (P)  Ltd.,  (Unit-IV),  At-  Lahandabud,  Kantapali, Jharsuguda

-  M/s Thakur Prasad. Sao & Sons (P)Ltd has a captive thermal power plant of capacity 4 MW (AFBC). Consent to Operate granted to the unit is valid up to 31.03.2022. ESP has been  installed  as  pollution  control  equipment  for  the  treatment  of  flue  gas  emissions before let out of the atmosphere through the stack height of 60 m.The unit has installed

online Continuous Emission Monitoring System for source emission through stack. The online  systems  are  connected  to  the  server  of  SPCB  and  CPCB  for  real  time  data transmission.

-  Coal  consumption  of  the  unit  is  about  50,000  Metric  Tonne  per  Annum  and  Ash generation about 20,000 Metric Tonne per Annum. Fly Ash generated from the unit is being  disposed  off  in  the  low-lying  areas  of  the  plant  premises  as  stipulated  in  CTO order. It has also been utilizing fly ash for brick making and other purposes.

## 5. M/s. Seven Star Steels Ltd, At-Kelendamal, Gudigaon, Jharsuguda

-  M/s SMC Power Generation Ltd has also a captive thermal power plant of capacity 4 MW (AFBC). Consent to Operate granted to the unit is valid up to 31.03.2025. ESPs have been installed as pollution control equipment for the treatment of flue gas emissions before let out of the atmosphere through the stack height of 50 m.The unit has installed online Continuous Emission Monitoring System for source emission through stack. The online  systems  are  connected  to  the  server  of  SPCB  and  CPCB  for  real  time  data transmission.
-  Coal  consumption  of  the  unit  is  about  50,000  Metric  Tonne  per  Annum  and  Ash generation about 20,000 Metric Tonne per Annum. Fly Ash generated from the unit is being  disposed  off  in  the  low-lying  areas  of  the  plant  premises  as  stipulated  in  CTO order. It has also been utilizing fly ash for brick making and other purposes.

## Observations on the Complaint Matter

-  The  Ministry  of  Environment  and  Forests  and  Climate  Change  (MoEF&CC)  in  its Notification  No.  S.O.763  (E)  dated  14th  September  1999,  last  amended  on  25th January, 2016 mandates that, no agency, person or organization shall within a radius of three hundred kilometres of a coal or lignite based thermal power plant undertake or approve or allow reclamation and compaction of low-lying areas with soil; only ash shall  be  used  for  compaction  and  reclamation.  In  this  regard,  it  is  noteworthy  to mention that aforesaid 5 nos. of  thermal power plants are located  in the district of Jharsuguda  and    for  land  development  activities,  the  land  owner/tenant  of  the  land request/ make application   the ash generators i.e thermal power plant to carry out land development activities with fly ash and the ash generator applies to the State Pollution Control Board  for the Consent to Establish and Consent to Operate for  the same as

per  the  Guidelines  for  Reclamation  of  Low-Lying  Areas  and  Abandoned  Quarries with Fly Ash 2017.

-  No permission has been granted in the agricultural land (crop fields/area) and Gochar Kisam Land except the Panchapada reclamation site where Collector, Jharsuguda has permitted  the  Gochar  Kisam  Land  in  urban  area  for  ash  filling  for  undertaking developmental activities vide District office letter no. 7296 dtd. 25.08.2018. Copy of the permission letter is enclosed for ready reference.
-  M/s. Vedanta Ltd had made an agreement with Sri Raju Gond of Junanimunda village in the district of Jharsuguda to fill his down area land of Ac 8.20 dec with fly ash for establishment  of  his  firm  &  house.    The  industry  has  obtained  NOC  from  Local Authority, Consent to Establish and Consent to Operate from State Pollution Control Board, Odisha for reclamation of low-lying area land of Sri Raju Gond with fly ash. Due to breach of the earthen embankment of the  aforesaidreclaimed  area, surface runoff along with fly ash  had flown to the nearby  area and  a Kata (Pond) of Sri Ajit Kumar Dhala, State Pollution Control Board, Odisha  has directed  M/s. Vedanta Ltd to  take  remedial  action  .  Sri  Ajit  Kumar  Dhala  has  filed  Original  Application 10/2020/EZ  before Hon'ble National Green Tribunal. In this regard,the joint inspection was conducted on 08.07.2021 by the Committee constituted in compliance to the order dtd. 15.06.2021 of the Hon'ble National Green Tribunal, EZB, Kolkatain the matter of O.A NO. 10/2021/EZ and report has been submitted. The matter is under sub-judice and next hearing date is scheduled on 25.10.2021.
-  Ash  transportation  was  carried  out  in  moist  condition  by  tippers/  trucks/  dumpers with  tarpaulin  covering  as  per  point  no.  3  of  Guidelines  for  Reclamation  of  LowLying  Areas  and  Abandoned  Quarries  with  Fly  Ash.  Ash  transportation  by  open trucks (without tarpaulin covering) is not carried out in the district of Jharsuguda as verified from time to time and is ensured by ash generators.
-  Soil covering on ash reclaimed area has been found to be carried out to minimize its exposure  to  atmosphere.    This  office  is  not  aware  of  air  pollution  related  health hazards and crop damage, due to fly ash &reclamation of low-lying area with fly ash for land development.
-  Reclamation  of  low-lying  areas  with  fly  ash  in  the  district  of  Jharsuguda  was regulated & monitored through Consent Administrationof the SPCB, Odisha. Where water resources like seasonal nallah or any specific waterbody / surface features exists

near to the reclamation site, provision of specific safety measures/ protection bonds is being ensured through consent administration & regulatory mechanisms.

In case of non-compliances to stipulated consent conditions and Guidelines for Reclamation  of  Low-Lying  Areas  and  Abandoned  Quarries  with  Fly  Ash  2017 observed,  action  is  being  taken  against  the  defaulting  ash  generating  units  &  the application and directions is being issued for taking remedial measures.