Over 100 workers affected by the temporary closure of five units of the power plant of Vedanta limited met the Jharsuguda District Deputy Collector and Regional Pollution Board officials to sort out their livelihood issue.
The shutdown has come as result of an order by the SPCB following the ash pond breach of the plant leading to spillage of ash slurry into nearby areas.
Although the remaining units of Vedanta’s 1,215MW and 2,400 MW power plants have been allowed to operate for the time being, the shutdown of the power units has threatened the livelihood security of the workers, who are mostly locals, currently employed under Powermech, a contract vendor for Vedanta.
The workers first sought the attention of the regional branch of the SPCB where they presented their representation to Niranjan Mallik, for not shutting down the units citing the impact such a decision on the workers in Jharsuguda. Following that they met Deputy Collector Alomani Sethi and submitted their demand letter.