Errant EIA
On water The EIA has withheld crucial data on local water resources. The company proposes to source its water requirement of 46,000 cubic metres per day from the Mahanadi river. But whether the Mahanadi will be able to meet this requirement, especially during summers, has been left to imagination. The impact can be gauged by the fact that the Chhattisgarh Water Resources Department has allowed the company to source only half of its water requirement from the Mahanadi. The company's water consumption will negatively impact water availability for local communities also. If groundwater is used to meet part of the project's water requirement, the project will utilise approximately half of the total available groundwater potential within a 10-km radius.
On air The dust emission potential and sulphur dioxide emissions have been grossly underestimated, and there is no mention of carbon dioxide or mercury emissions either. Emissions due to storage, transportation and 5.6 mt per annum of material handling have not been estimated. Ignoring such areas could result in 40,000 tonnes of emissions annually. The quality of air near the proposed project site is already very poor at 481
Related Content
