The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
JHARSUGUDA, AUG 26, 2021
Vedanta Aluminium has dedicated 16 community ponds and 14 bore wells in Katikela, Dalki, Parmanpur and Badmal Gram Panchayats of Jharsuguda region, to ensure post-monsoon water availability for households, agriculture, and livestock.
The company worked with local communities to carry out deep cleaning of the ponds for ground water recharge and rainwater harvesting, and repair of hand pumps. This crucial eco-system restoration process will prevent further deterioration of these local water resources, and ensure water availability for nearly 3,000 people, Vedanta said in a release today.
Dedicating the ponds to community, Deepak Prasad, Deputy CEO – Vedanta Limited, Jharsuguda, said, “In our mission of becoming a ‘Zero Harm, Zero Waste and Zero Discharge’ operation, we undertake tracking and monitoring of local water availability, along with estimation of future changes; and we have put in place a robust water management system that takes into account water’s criticality to sustaining the ecology and communities around us.”
Supriya Pandey, Ward Member of Purna village under Dalki Gram Panchayat said, “We are thankful to Vedanta for cleaning our village pond, which will benefit 500-600 residents of the village.”
Vedanta Jharsuguda has undertaken robust measures to optimize water consumption across its value-chain and increase the share of recycled and reused water, such as: Water-screening assessment to develop and implement stringent control measures to ensure zero discharge operations; Integration of water management into decision-making processes for all projects; Continuous and online monitoring of water quality parameters, including reduction of specific water consumption; Regular water consumption related audits, and appropriate measures to ensure continually improved performance; Water monitoring and control through SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system; and Optimization of freshwater intake by maximizing usage of water recycled through state-of-the-art Effluent Treatment Plants (ETP), augmented with Ultra Filtration (UF), and Reverse Osmosis (RO) and Multi Evaporation Systems (MES).
Besides, Vedanta has created on-site water reservoirs for water sourcing during contingency scenarios. The company has also been helping the district administration in supplying drinking water to peripheral communities during summer.
The aluminium major also helped farmers in the community adopt drip-irrigation, treadle pump, solar powered water pumps, rainwater harvesting structures like percolation tanks, etc. to boost irrigation potential and reduce dependence on monsoons for cropping.
It also built several water-related community infrastructures like tube wells, bore wells, ponds, percolation tanks, etc. to help communities access water for household and irrigation purposes.
The only Indian smelter in the global ‘1 Million Tonne’ production and export club, Vedanta Jharsuguda is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications across core industries. With its state-of-the-art facilities, unparalleled engineering prowess, R&D and innovation abilities, Vedanta Jharsuguda is working towards a sustainable and greener future for all by spurring emerging applications of aluminium, the ‘Metal of the Future’.
