SUNDARGARH:The much-awaited coal corridor proposal of the Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) to free a vast rural population from the hazards of dust pollution is not moving on the expected lines. The coal transportation through these corridors will be easy and is expected to reduce dust pollution.

Sources said after intense public pressure it was decided that MCL would lay 33-km four-lane stretch exclusively for transportation of coal from its mines.

KOIDA (SUNDARGARH): Forced by declining returns from farming in ecologically fragile areas and virtually no regular labour-intensive jobs, several villagers have been taking to goat farming -- goatery. Goats ensure income to nearly 25 families of Bahamba village in Koida block.

For these extremely poor families in the Maoist-infested block it was a modest beginning to make ends meet with the help of Barsuan Iron Mines (BIM) of SAIL.

ROURKELA: Notwithstanding police crackdown on illegal mining at the Koida mining sector of Sundargarh district, plundering of mineral resources could not be stopped given the soft penal provisions. The arrest of 10 persons with five trucks loaded with stolen iron ore on Tuesday only highlights the fact that mineral thieves are determined to make a killing. Mining industry sources said given the lucrative monetary prospects the illegal trade offers, a few days of imprisonment is not a deterrent.

With some Central industries discharging their effluents into major rivers of the State, the Odisha Government has asked them to develop their wastewater treatment facilities.

This was stated by Forest and Environment Minister, Mr Debi Prasad Mishra, while replying a question in the Assembly.

“The State Pollution Control Board has already served show-cause notices to three Central industrial units as their waste treatment facilities are not adequate,” Mr Mishra said.

The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and the Wildlife Warden office of Odisha's Forest & Environment Department are on a collision course over the proposed elephant corridor in the State. SAIL chairman Chandra Sekhar Verma, who called on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday, tried to end this impasse.

According to sources, the proposed elephant corridor, likely to be notified by the State Government shortly, would seriously affect mining at Bolani, Meghathapur, Kiriburu and Goa, four important iron ore raw material sources of the SAIL plants at Rourkela and Durgapur.

The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and the Wildlife Warden office of Odisha's Forest & Environment Department are on a collision course over the proposed elephant corridor in the State. SAIL chairman Chandra Sekhar Verma, who called on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday, tried to end this impasse.
According to sources, the proposed elephant corridor, likely to be notified by the State Government shortly, would seriously affect mining at Bolani, Meghathapur, Kiriburu and Goa, four important iron ore raw material sources of the SAIL plants at Rourkela and Durgapur.

ROURKELA: Armed with the Saranda Action Plan, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday detailed his much-hyped ‘peace offensive’ to curb insurgency along the Odisha-Jharkhand border. On his second visit to the Maoist-infested Saranda forest region in the neighbouring Jharkhand, Ramesh laid the foundation stone for the Integrated Development Centre at the remote Digha village of West Singhbhum district, about 16 km from Odisha border and addressed villagers.

Kolkata-based crystalline photo voltaic module maker as well as EPC contractor; Vikram Solar Group, announced the commissioning of 2 MW grid-connected solar power project at Khaora, in Chhattisgarh. While solar PV modules are manufactured by Vikram Solar at its facility at Falta Special Economic Zone near Kolkata; the EPC contracts are carried out by its joint venture arm, Vikram Proener Projects. The company has already commissioned a 5 MW solar power plant project in Gujarat in December 2011. Other projects in the pipeline include one each in Rourkela (Orissa) and Bamra (Orissa).

BHUBANESWAR: Four days after shutdown of two units at Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), Odisha's State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) has granted permission to operate them following anti-pollution measures and submission of a time-bound action plan. RSP sources said that based on a comprehensive time-bound action plan presented by it before the board last week and the action already taken for pollution control at two units, they have been granted permission to operate them.