Dhenkanal, Oct.19: The regional officer of the Orissa State Pollution Control Board yesterday enforced closure of the sponge iron and power units of Bhusan Steel Limited here, eight days after the board’s closure order.

Each kiln produced about 500 tonnes of sponge iron daily. “I closed six out of eight kilns, as well as the 33MW power plant, in the steel plant at Meramandali yesterday. But, we could not follow the pollution control board’s order in shutting down the coke oven plant considering safety reasons. We will, however, close it later,” said Sitikanta Sahu, regional officer of the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB).

In July, Sahu had inspected the plant following complaints by local people on pollution in the adjoining areas by the company. In his report, he had raised the issue of the pollution caused by the sponge iron and power units. After studying the report, the board decided to order closure of the kilns.

“We found heaps of fly ash dumped near Shivpur village as the power plant did not have any ash pond. Kisinda rivulet, the lifeline of the local population, was badly polluted by effluents of the plant. Dust pollution was also present. It was evident that the plant authorities had not been implementing the pollution control guidelines properly,” he added.

Sahu said that in the absence of an ash pond, the plant authorities had initially started dumping ash at Talcher coalmines. But when the local people resisted this, they started dumping it elsewhere. The NH-55 near the plant remains dusty in daytime because of the ash deposit on the road during its transportation.