Jajpur: The state-owned Nilachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL), which was once in the eye of the storm for causing pollution, is now on the path of recovery and has registered record production in hot metal and pig iron.
The company is now producing 2000 tonne hot metal while it bettered its past record by producing 2605 tonne of pig iron Friday.
The turnaround has also ushered in hope for the residents of Sarangpur, Nuagaon, Madhapur and Pandapita villages in the plant’s vicinity as they expect its recovery will help in alleviating their problems. The company, on its part, has also assured to resolve their problems.
Things are slowly shaping up in the plant as over 40 employees were sent to the Vishakhapatnam-based Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) to undergo further training in two phases.
The NINL plant scripted the record in hot metal and pig iron production after its blast furnace was repaired.
NINL, a joint venture of Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation (MMTC), Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha and Odisha Mining Corporation, was established at Kalinganagar Industrial Complex in 1996.
The plant at the time of its establishment aimed at becoming an integrated steel project by 2002. However, it soon came under severe scrutiny after being accused of discharging effluents and polluting Sarangpur, Nuagaon, Madhapur and Pandapita villages.
The SPCB repeatedly issued show-cause notice to the NINL, but it failed to check the pollution. Things came to such a pass that the villagers demanded that they be relocated elsewhere and their homesteads and farmlands taken away as it had become impossible to live in the polluted atmosphere.
The SPCB even attached a Rs 4.14 lakh bank guarantee of the plant after it failed to install a bio-chemical oxygen demand (BOD) plant to filter the waste water and a water recycling system (WRS).
However, these now appear to be a thing of the past as the plant, after repairing its blast furnace, has been able to produce 2000 tonne of hot metal in one shift. The company now plans to produce 3000 tonne hot metal and steel billets by reviving its steel melting shop.
When contacted, NINL’s information and public relations officer, Sandip Kumar Sethi, said the company’s growth will help resolve the problems of affected villagers.