Bhubaneswar, Sept. 14: The State Pollution Control Board yesterday served notice to Vedanta Aluminum Ltd at Jharsuguda to shut down five units in the captive power plant and thermal power plant.

The decision was taken following the collapse of an ash pond of a captive power plant on August 28, which led to inundation of hundreds of acres of agricultural land in Katikela village under ash.

According to the order, the aluminum giant has been asked to close two units of thermal power plant generating 1200MW power and three units of captive power plant, each generating of 135MW of power.

The board has also asked the plant not to discharge any ash slurry into lagoon Nos. 1, 2 and 3 at Katikela without prior permission of the board. The board has also asked to remove the ash spread in the area after the breach completely besides taking up the de-siltation of the affected stretch of the river Bheden. The plant authorities have also been asked to come up with a contingency plan to prevent the washout of ash in the affected area due by rain.

On September 5, the board had served show-cause notice to the plant authorities seeking an explanation why the consent to operate granted in favour of the smelter plant and the captive power plant should not be revoked and direction of closure be issued. The board had also estimated 4,224,000 tones of ash flowing in to the nearby areas and the Bheden river posing grave threat to the environment.

Ash pond No. 2 of the power plant had collapsed with a breach of around 800 meters causing huge damage to the crops. The police control board officials made a physical inspection of the area on September 1 and have found around 115 acres of agricultural land to have been affected by ash.

In an official statement, Vedanta has made it clear that the company would comply with the order and would request the board to revoke the closure order.

'This action may require a temporary power purchase of up to 200MW and hence a marginal impact on cost of production of aluminum. The company expects to be able to sustain the smelter capacity without affecting its production volume,' said the official statement.