JSPL (Jindal Steel & Power Ltd)

Set up over an 800 acre plot that was once rice paddies in Patrapali village of Raipur district in Chattisgarh, JSPL's sponge iron facility is the largest of its kind in the world. The factory complex has a coal washery, captive power plant, sponge iron unit, lime kiln, submerged arc furnace and a steel melting shop.

In 1996, JSPL was denied permission to draw water from the River Kelu for industrial purposes as the District Water Utilisation Council felt that the River's water would be inadequate to meet both industrial and drinking water needs of Raigarh town. In 1997, the company managed to secure permission from a State-level committee to construct a check dam across the river and sink wells to draw more than 35000 cubic meters of water daily. Nearly 250 families dependent on river fishing have seen their catches plummet after the construction of JSPL's check dam.

A statutory monitoring report dated 3 March, 2005, of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests too records a number of lapses in the JSPL Raigarh facility. The Monitoring Report notes that the electrostatic precipitators fitted to several of the "old kilns" in the factory do not function, and advised against any further approvals for expansion unless the pollution control system is entirely revamped. The report also observed that water sprinkler system at the kilns do "not work most of the time" leading to fugitive dust emissions. The same report also expressed dissatisfaction at the company's efforts to comply with a permit condition stipulating development of 7 hectares of green belt. The report observes that there is no 7 hectares earmarked as greenbelt. [See attached below: "Compliance and Monitoring of Environmental Clearance Conditions of the Jindal Steel and Power Plant, Raigarh, Chattisgarh: A Case Study." Kalpvriksh Environmental Action Group and Jan Chetana. September 2009]

On 11 November, 2005, the Chattisgarh Pollution Control Committee filed a prosecution plaint against JSPL for extracting more than the licensed amount of coal from its coal mines. The company was permitted to extract up to 2 million tonnes of coal from its mines, but was found to have repeatedly exceeded this limit by extracting up to 2.94 million tonnes a year. [Source: Chief Judicial Magistrate Registers Case Against SECL and Jindal for Offences. Kelo Pravah. Raipur, Chattisgarh. 6 January, 2006]. As of October 2009, this case against Jindal was still pending final order.

In 2006, Delhi-based environmental magazine Down to Earth identified JSPL as one of several companies that were claiming illegitimate benefits from the Clean Development Mechanism. According to the report, "The company is claiming CDM benefits for an activity that it would have undertaken with or without the CDM benefits. This means the company is contravening the ‘additional criterion' of CDM, as per which CDM benefits can be claimed only for activities that are not possible without CDM funds. If cleared, the JSPL project would be another CDM project that would not lead to sustainable development." [Source: Jindal Steel Claims CDM Benefits. By Ritu Gupta. 29 June, 2006. Down to Earth.]

A 2006 study by Hyderabad-based Cerana Foundation reported that the company was dumping its ash in the open to fill up a low-lying area slotted as a site for construction of a bus-stand. The study found that a population of nearly 200,000 was at heightened risk of cancer and non-cancer diseases within 10-km radius of the company's sponge iron plant outside Raigarh town. [See attached below: "Risk Appraisal Study: Sponge Iron Plants, Raigarh District." Cerana Foundation, Hyderabad. October 2006]

On 23 December, 2006, the Officiating Wildlife Warden-cum-District Forest Officer of Raigarh issued three show-cause notices to Jindal for offences under the wildlife and forest protection laws. One alleged offence dealt with the company having mined 177 hectares of forest land within an elephant migration corridor to collect earth, rocks and stones for construction of a dam over the Rabo River. This illegal act was done without any compensatory or environmental remediation measures taken by the company.

The second alleged offence dealt with felling of trees in protected forest areas without permission to lay an overhead electricity transmission line from Patrapali to Libra villages. [Source: Copies of the three show-cause notices in the Hindi are attached below as Showcause Notice 1.jpg, Showcause Notice 2.jpg and Showcause Notice 3.jpg]. The outcome of these notices is not known.

In a third offence, the company allegedly used forest land for transportation of explosives for its coal mine in Dongamahua, Chattisgarh.

In August 2007, Delhi-based NGO Kalpvriksh conducted a field visit to verify JSPL's compliance with environmental clearance conditions. They found that the company had dumped solid wastes at several spots around the factory. "One such dump was close to Gate no. 6 of the JSPL plant and the airstrip. This used to be agricultural land. Another mountain of dump was near the Jindal Dairy Farm at Parsada. This was on the main Raigarh-Kharsia Highway. The dump was adjoining a green belt of JPSL; and across the road was forest land under Operation O2 (Oxygen). Both these dumps were right next to the road."

In September 2008, a major breach in the company's ash dyke No. 2 led to a spill that damaged more than 100 acres of farm land in five Chattisgarh villages. ["Jindal plant's ash destroys crops in five Chattisgarh villages." September 19, 2008. www.indiaenews.com]

Villagers allege that the company dumps hot ash from its furnaces on open land around the factory site, including near residential areas. On 17 April, 2009, a 7-year old girl Twinkle Thakur lost her life after she was burned by the hot ash allegedly dumped by the company near Indira Awaas Colony, a residential area near JSPL's plant. Local activists say that the company cleared the ash dump within a day of the incident to thwart police investigation.

On 7 July, 2010, the Government of Chattisgarh prosecuted Jindal Steel & Power for commencing illegal construction of a 2400 megawatt coal-fired thermal power plant without securing permission under environmental laws. [See attached file "Court case against Jindal News 17.07.10.pdf"]

Water Exploitation

In Gudgahan village, Chattisgarh, near where the company has sunk its borewell to draw water, farmers have slipped into insolvency after loans taken by them to set up an irrigation scheme were wasted because JSPL's needs exhausted the water supply, leaving nothing for irrigation. Local villagers report that JSPL has also illegally diverted the Kokadi Talai irrigation canal.

After the company's latest expansion in 2005, JSPL declared an hourly water requirement of 2 million liters of water, to be drawn from the Mahanadi River.

Additionally, the company pressed ahead with the phased construction of a highly controversial 1000 MW coal-fired thermal power plant in Tamnar village, Chattisgarh. This construction, according to reports, was begun even before necessary clearances were obtained. For instance, the company obtained environmental clearance, valid for 5 years ending in 2002, for the first phase of the Tamnar coal power plant in 1997. Construction, however, began only in 2005 after the earlier clearance had expired. The earlier clearance had also imposed a pre-condition that forest diversion clearance for 177 hectares of forest land had to be obtained before commencing the construction of the 18 meter high dam. However, construction of the dam began in October 2004, nearly a year before forest diversion clearance was obtained.

Both the dam and the 1000 MW power plant were completed setting aside local concerns. In January 2008, a public hearing to consider a proposal to expand the coal mine turned violent with several villagers being injured in a baton-charge by the State police. The villagers were agitated at the company's plans to acquire additional farmlands for their coal mines.

The company's Deojhar iron ore mines in Orissa have reportedly caused the local groundwater table to plummet, depriving local villagers of groundwater. In 2007, the company had completed construction of a 9 km pipeline to carry water to its iron ore mines from the Baitarni River without obtaining necessary clearances. According to Orissa Water Department officials, the company ignored repeated instructions to stop construction of the pipeline. [Source: Dark Side of Mining. May 5-18, 2007. Frontline.]