Bhubaneswar, Aug. 18: Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) today slapped closure notice on Hindalco authorities asking them to shut down their four captive power plant units in Hirakud following seepage of ash from its ash pond twice this month.

After a meeting with the plant authorities, the board found that the action plan prepared by the plant authorities for handling the problem in future was not adequate to prevent ash slurry from getting into adjoining areas. Therefore, it decided to shutdown the entire captive power plant.

The pollution watchdog also directed the plant authorities to repair the breach immediately and clean the ash from the affected area.

“The problem will persist if further dumping continues in the pond. So, the board decided to serve a closure notice on the power plant,” said OSPCB member secretary Siddhant Das. The closure order would be in force till the authorities come up with an action plan to mitigate the problem permanently, he said.

Hindalco has an 1.46 lakh tonne per annum aluminium smelter plant at Hirakud. It also has a 367.5MW captive power plant. While three units of the power plant generate 100MW electricity each, the fourth has the capacity of generating 67.5MW.

Sources in the OSPCB said that the Hindalco captive power plants generated about 3,000 tonnes of ash per day, of which 1,000 tonnes were supplied to cement plants. The remaining 2,000 tonnes (about 160 truckloads per day) are deposited as ash-mounds 12km away. On August 6, seepage of ash to adjoining areas had raised pollution fears. The seepage recurred for the second time on August 16.