Breach in OPGC ash pond inundates farmlands in Jharsuguda, crops damaged

Farmlands of three villages in Jharsuguda’s Kumbharabandha panchayat were inundated after a 20-ft breach developed in ash pond number 3 of Odisha Power Generation Corporation Limited (OPGC) on Saturday.

As per reports, crops in several acres of farmlands in three villages—Rengali, Kantatikira, and Saradhabali were damaged in the ash slurry.

Sources said though the OPGC authorities were present at the spot, repair works have not started yet, which has led the breach to widen further.

It has been alleged that the breach occurred due to negligence on the part of OPGC authorities who never maintained the embankment or reinforced it to hold such a huge amount of ash water.

The OPGC authorities were unavailable for comments in connection with the incident.

Meanwhile, Forest Department has seized eight Hyvas and one JCB for dumping ash from a private industrial plant in Labdanguri Reserve Forest in Sambalpur.

As per reports, the drivers fled the spot leaving their Hyvas after the Forest Department officials reached the spot. All the vehicles were seized and kept at the premises of the Town Forest Range office.

Sources said, many Hyvas were carrying registration plates of other States, which will be probed by the forest department with the help of the Transport department to ascertain the owner of these vehicles.

“We received a tip-off about some trucks from other States dumping fly ash in the Labdanguri forest. We found eight trucks carrying fly ash and seized them,” said Sadar Range ACF, Harishankar Nayak.