Odisha plans to restore coastal green cover
Uprooted trees in Puri. Nearly 22 lakh trees have been destroyed in the cyclone in Odisha.Biswaranjan Rout Cyclone Fani-hit State aims at planting over 1.3 crore saplings as per a five-year scheme
Uprooted trees in Puri. Nearly 22 lakh trees have been destroyed in the cyclone in Odisha.Biswaranjan Rout Cyclone Fani-hit State aims at planting over 1.3 crore saplings as per a five-year scheme
VAL attributed the step to the unviability of the plant in the absence of assured supply of bauxite Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL), a unit of the London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc, today sent a notice to the Odisha government, seeking temporary closure of its one-million tonne refinery at Lanjigarh in the Kalahandi district from December 5. The company attributed the extreme step to the economic unviability of the plant in the absence of assured supply of bauxite.
Facing non-supply of bauxite, Vedanta Aluminium has announced closure of its alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Odisha from December 5. The company has served a formal notice to the Odisha Government.
Since it would take about five to six years to develop the projects The state grid network will add about 1,500 Mw from hydro power generating plants by 2020, said the water resources department."We have 10 projects under pipeline with a combined capacity close to 1,500 Mw and the DPRs (detailed project report) will be completed by December 2012. We hope the energy department would award the contracts within one year (after the DPR submission)”, said Suresh Chandra Mahapatra, state water resources secretary, while speaking at a workshop on “Development of Grid Connected Small/Mini/Micro Hydro Projects” here.
MCL is the second largest subsidiary of Coal India in terms of coal output Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), which had shut down its six mines in Ib valley region over the weekend following an order of the state steel and mines department, has moved the Supreme Court seeking stay on the government directive. The coal company is particularly encouraged as in a similar case earlier the apex court had granted it relief. MCL is the second largest subsidiary of Coal India Ltd (CIL) in terms of coal output.
The human rights group, Amnesty International, has accused the London-stock-exchange-listed mines and metals major, Vedanta Resources Plc, of glossing over criticisms of its poor human rights record at
Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) is in the process of preparing pre-feasibility report for five new hydro power projects with a combined capacity of 1543 MW. These projects include Bhimkund & Baigundi project on Baitarani river in Keonjhar district (110 MW), Kanpur small hydroelectric project in Keonjhar district (3 MW), Indrabati pump storage project (600 MW), Balimela pump storage project (510 MW) and Upper Kolab pump storage project, according to the state energy minister Arun Kumar Sahoo.
Land acquisition delay holding up mega projects, admits minister Projects proposed by steel players who have signed MoUs (memorandum of understanding) with the Odisha government are set to go under the scanner soon. The state steel & mines department intends to conduct a comprehensive review of such projects after the end of the state assembly's monsoon session, which is scheduled to be held from August 28 to September 7.
About 15 kms from the idyllic hilly town of Semiliguda in South Odisha’s Koraput district, the stage is set for an encore of the Niyamgiri-type agitation, as the tribals gather at the foothills of Mali Parbat to protest against bauxite mining by Hindalco Industries Ltd in the area. Sharing the concerns of the Dongria Kondh tribe at Niyamgiri, whose protests had put a halt to Vedanta’s bauxite mining plan two years ago, the tribals in Semiliguda are also worried about the protection of their environment and livelihood.
A four-member expert team of the Union ministry of environment & forests (MoEF), which visited the Posco project site near Paradip on Tuesday, will submit its report to the ministry on environmental implications of the $12 billion steel plant by October. “We have collected information on the Posco project after our field visit. By October, we will be able to submit our report to the concerned ministry,”,K Ray Paul, leader of the expert panel told newsmen after emerging out of a meeting with state chief secretary B K Patnaik.
MoEF team skips meeting people at project site The Odisha government has decided to review the status of the Posco steel project towards the end of this week, even as an expert team of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) visited the proposed plant site on Tuesday. “We will review all mega steel investment projects on August 25 including the Posco plant. We have acquired all litigation free land in the area and will discuss about acquiring more land from disputed site,” said Rajnikant Singh, minister of state for steel and mines.