MINING AND INDUSTRIALISATION UPDATE, ORISSA - Vasundhara

The fertiliser plants use the conveyor beltsto transport sulphur and other raw materialfrom Paradip port to the plant sites, sourcessaid. “Sulphur dust continually leaks fromthese conveyer belts and gets deposited inheaps on the side of the road at Atharbankiand Nehru Bangala making it unsafe forcommuters and residents. People here havecomplained to plant officials of eye irritationand suffocation but no steps have been takento correct the situation so far,” a local said.“The condition becomes even morehazardous during the monsoon as it mixeswith rain water and contaminates it, causingvarious skin diseases and stomach ailments,”he added. “I transport fish for a living fromNehru Bangala twice or thrice a day on theroad by the conveyor belt. The constantcontact with sulphur makes my eyes burneach time I take the road,” complained MrSantosh Sahoo, an auto rickshaw driver.Environmental experts have also cautionedthat prolonged exposure to sulphur maycause severe health hazards for the residentshere.10 more hydel projects onanvil in StatePioneer News Service, 23 July, 2008To meet the future needs of the power, theState Government has decided to set up 10hydel power stations in State. Secretary,Energy Suresh Chandra Mohapatra said theState has already initiated talks with theNational Hydro-Power Corporation(NHPC)to this effect. About Rs 7,500 crore to Rs8,000 crore would be invested in theseprojects. In order to set up the powerstations, Orissa Government would set upjoint venture Company with NHPC. WhileOrissa's stake will be of 51 per cent, NHPCwill have a share of 49 per cent. Chairmanof the NHPC would be nominated aschairman of the newly formed company.Around 1,500 megawatt power will begenerated from these hydel power projects.Earlier, the State Government has alreadyset up 11 IPPs to produce thermal power inthe State.Essar Steel inks MoU withIMMTThe Orissa Diary, 23 July , 2008Bhubaneswar: Indian steel major Essar SteelLimited on Wednesday entered into anagreement with Institute of Minerals andMaterials Technology (IMMT) to utilize theindigenous technology developed by thelatter’s scientists for deriving high ironvalues from low grade iron ore. Amemorandum of understanding to this effectwas signed by IMMT Director Barada KantaMishra and Chief of Operations of EssarVisakhapatnam M. K. Sampath at theinstitute. With the signing of MoU, IMMTbecame the first research organization toventure into the iron ore processing industryin India, which otherwise is dominated byforeign players. IMMT was chosen by Essarbased on its previous performance atcompany’s ore beneficiation plant inChhatisgarh. "We had a tie-up with aSweden company for use of technology inthe plant. But with help of IMMT’sscientists, we could achieve the fullproduction capacity," Mr. Sampath said.Under the present agreement, the expertiseof the IMMT would be utilized to recoverthe iron values from the processing plantwastes (tailing and slimes of the mines) andassessing the existing plant performanceoperating with different types of feedmaterials. Moreover, IMMT would providehelp Essar for tuning its plant operations inIndia and abroad.SAIL makes Rs. 1,835-cr.ProfitThe Hindu, 24 July, 2008Rourkela: Higher sales volume, increase inspecial (value added) steel production, better17