Nalco asked to set up 3rd Ash Pond

ANGUL: Close on the heels of Orissa State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB), the Assembly Committee on Environment on Saturday visited NTPC and Nalco to take stock of the situation. However, much to the disappointment of the locals, the committee skipped MCL mining area during its one-day visit to the district.The committee inspected the ash ponds at these plants and asked the authorities concerned to check further leakage. Both NTPC and Nalco have been charged with leakage of ash water from its ponds into the Nandira and the Tikira rivulets, which merge into the Brahmani. Senior legislator Amar Prasad Satpathy told newspersons that Nalco had been asked to construct a third ash pond and adopt better means to stop seepages. The NTPC has been asked to be more liberal in setting up medical camps and providing drinking water in the peripheral areas, he added. The OSPCB had recently slapped closure notice on the 3000 MW   Power plant.