Chhattisgarh serves notices to Balco, 36 others for pollution

October 7th, 2009 RAIPUR - A senior official of the Gannon Dunkerley and Company Ltd (GDCL), which was constructing the 257-metre chimney for the Balco power plant at Chhattisgarh's Korba town, was arrested Wednesday for the Sep 23 chimney collapse that killed 45 workers. "After a detailed interrogation of GDCL project manager Manoj Sharma for the past few days, we finally arrested him today (Wednesday) for the Balco mishap," District Superintendent of Police (Korba) Ratanlal Dangi told IANS.

October 7th, 2009 RAIPUR - Chhattisgarh police have interrogated several Chinese engineers employed by Shandong Electric Power Construction Corporation (SEPCO) at Korba town to probe the Sep 23 collapse of an under-construction power plant chimney that killed 45 workers. "We have interrogated a few Chinese engineers of SEPCO since Monday regarding the Balco tragedy and have also collected some documents," Vivek Sharma, police station in charge of Balco Nagar in Korba, told IANS over phone.

October 5th, 2009 RAIPUR - The Chhattisgarh government Monday suspended a senior labour official after an under-construction chimney collapsed at a Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) power plant Sep 23, and left 45 workers killed under its debris. Satyaprakash Verma, assistant labour commissioner, was suspended on chages of dereliction duty for remaining absent in the aftermath of the tragedy from Korba town without informing his senior, a state government statement said.

September 30th, 2009 RAIPUR - Chhattisgarh police have summoned the CEO of aluminium major Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) for the Sep 23 collapse of an under-construction chimney at a power plant in Korba that killed 45 workers, officials said. "We want to know certain things about the chimney crash tragedy from the Balco management and we have issued a notice to its CEO, Gunjan Gupta, to report to Balco Nagar police station at the earliest," Vivek Sharma, station in-charge of Balco Nagar police station, told IANS over the phone.

September 25th, 2009 RAIPUR - The bodies of 40 workers, all badly disfigured, were recovered till evening from under the debris of a collapsed chimney at the Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) plant in Chhattisgarh as rescuers continued to search for survivors on the third day Friday. Authorities fear several more are still trapped in the debris.

September 24th, 2009 KORBA - Salvage and rescue operations were being conducted to recover bodies, save any surviving person and also to clear the rubble caused by the collapse of a chimney at the thermal power plant site of Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO) in Chattisgarh's Korba district on Thursday. The collapsed chimney was under construction at Balco Nagar and the mishap has reportedly claimed at least 20 lives.

September 24th, 2009 BALCO NAGAR - As night stretched into day, rescuers Thursday continued their struggle to find survivors amongst the 50 workers suspected to be trapped under the debris of the 100-metre chimney of the Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) plant that had crashed the day earlier killing 20 people. District authorities at Korba, about 250 km from Chhattisgarh capital Raipur, said the death toll could surge once the wreckage from the under-construction tower at the coal-fired power plant was cleared.

September 23rd, 2009 RAIPUR - At least 20 workers were killed and some 50 were trapped under debris when a chimney of an under-construction power plant of Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) collapsed in Chhattisgarh's Korba town Wednesday afternoon, police said. The state government ordered a judicial inquiry into the accident that took place when about 100 workers and engineers were engaged in the construction work at Balco Nagar area, some 250 km north of state capital Raipur.

September 23rd, 2009 RAIPUR - At least 15 workers were killed and some 50 were trapped under debris when a chimney of an under-construction power plant of Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) collapsed in Chhattisgarh's Korba town Wednesday afternoon, police said. The state government has ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident that took place when about 100 workers and engineers were engaged in the construction work at Balco Nagar area, some 250 km north of state capital Raipur.

September 23rd, 2009 RAIPUR - Several workers were feared killed Wednesday in Chhattisgarh's Korba town when a 1,200 MW under construction power plant's chimney at the Bharat Aluminium Co (Balco) collapsed.

July 25th, 2009 RAIPUR - The Chhattisgarh government has issued notices to 45 small steel and sponge iron units for violating pollution norms, a minister said Saturday. "The state government has served notices to 45 steel units and sponge iron units based on Urla-Siltara industrial growth centre on the outskirts of Raipur for overlooking pollution control measures and also not using electro-static precipitator (ESP) machines," Housing and Environment minister Rajesh Munat told reporters.

July 5th, 2009 RAIPUR - A Chhattisgarh environment panel has ordered that power supply to three sponge iron units here be cut after residents of the surrounding villages protested that industries were responsible for large scale pollution in the area, officials said Sunday. A team of Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board (CECB) raided Siltara and Urla industrial areas on the outskirts of Raipur last week amid complaints of gross neglect to pollution control measures and also for not using mandatory electro-static precipitator (ESP) machines.

March 28th, 2009 PANAJI - The chief electoral officer in Goa has issued notices to the government over the controversial and much publicised sealing and de-sealing of offshore casino vessels in the coastal state. The notices by CEO Ajit Srivastva have been dispatched to the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) and the North Goa district administration, asking them to respond promptly.

February 9th, 2009 RAIPUR - The Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (BALCO) has encroached 1,036.52 acres of government land in Korba, the Chhattisgarh assembly was told Tuesday. 'The state government had registered 10 cases against the company in Korba between June 17, 2005 and June 28, 2005 under various sections of the land revenue code,' Minister for Revenue Amar Agrawal told the house.

December 26th, 2008 BHUBANESWAR - At least 26 industrial units in Orissa were closed and eight others served show-cause notices this month for causing pollution, a state government official said Saturday. The Orissa State Pollution Control Board ordered the closure of 26 units and issued show-cause notices against the others in the first week of December, B.K.