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Sunday, Jul 01, 2007
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MLAs flay Pollution Control Board

Special Correspondent

BHUBANESWAR: Members cutting across party lines on Saturday blamed the State Pollution Control Board and Jharsuguda district administration for not initiating timely action against Tata Refractories Limited at Belpahar for allegedly violating pollution norms.

Raising the issue during zero hour, Congress legislator Nalinikanta Mohanty said that although the Pollution Control Board had served a closure notice on the company no action was likely to be taken to force the company to close its operations.

Government Chief Whip Kishore Mohanty also blamed the Pollution Control Board saying that the organisation was not above corruption. No action had been taken against the company earlier despite the affected people complaining about the pollution caused by the industry for long, he said.

‘Officials soft’

Congress legislator Anup Sai criticised the Jharsuguda district administration for going soft on the company all the time. Hundreds of people living in the area close to the refractory were suffering from various diseases as toxic water discharged from the industry had affected agricultural fields, well and the environment in the locality.

As Opposition members demanded a statement on the issue, Deputy Speaker ordered that the Government make a statement in the Assembly . Reports from Jharsuguda, however, indicated that the gas plant had been sealed following the Pollution Control Board orders.

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