UPCL questioned on storage of fly ash

[email protected] (The Hindu)
March 8, 2011

upcl

Bangalore, March 8: Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has directed Udupi Power Corporation Limited to submit an action plan on how they propose to dispose of large quantities of fly ash that is being stored at their storage unit in Udupi.

Following complaints, and after inspections by its regional office, the KSPCB had issued a notice summoning UPCL officials to Bangalore. Farmer groups from Santhur village and the Mudrangady gram panchayat had filed complaints against the company, and had threatened to launch an agitation. They claimed that fly ash from the ash pond of the coal-based thermal plant was posing environmental and health hazards. Further, they also said that their crops were being impacted by pollution.

There was a plan to set up a cement unit with ACC Cements, which did not materialise, the KSPCB Chairman A.S. Sadashivaiah said. They have also been directed to set up an ambient air quality monitoring unit near the fly ash pond so the air pollution can be constantly monitored and records can be maintained.

“We will be strictly monitoring all the action that they will be taking. We are taking it up seriously, which is why we immediately issued the notice.”

He added that until they are able to make requisite arrangements from proportionate utilisation of fly ash, the permits for operation of the second phase will not be granted.

Speaking to media, a top KSPCB official said that the UPCL was storing no less than 25,000 tonnes of fly ash at its storage facility. “This is way above how much a storage unit can handle. Though they may be storing it in slurry form, the fact that they are not utilising 50 per cent of what they are producing (as is mandated) is in itself an issue,” the official said. The official added that only 200 tonnes is being pushed out for cement production in Chickballapur.


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News Network
April 16,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 16: With two more people testing positive for COVID-19 in Karnataka, the state's corona cases count has reached 279, including 80 discharged and 12 deaths, said the government on Wednesday.

A total of 19 corona cases were confirmed in the state on Wednesday. 17 cases were reported earlier in the day, of which 15 are male patients and two are female. Of the 17 cases, nine are workers of a pharmaceutical company in Mysuru, the government stated.

Meanwhile, a 65-year-old from Chikkaballapur, who had tested positive for COVID-19, lost his life this afternoon.

"He was referred to a Bengaluru hospital with complaints of H1N1 positive, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with obstructive sleep apnea and a past history of diabetes and hypertension," the government said.

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News Network
March 12,2020

Mangaluru, Mar 12: Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh on Thursday said that the test reports of the 35-year-old passenger from Dubai have shown no signs of either Coronavirus (COVID-19) or H1N1.

In statement issued here Ms Rupesh said that the passenger has now been discharged from the Bantwal hospital. He has been asked to stay at home quarantined for the next 14 days.

The passenger, who had been diagnosed with fever after he arrived at the airport from Dubai on March 8, had left the Government Wenlock Hospital in the early hours of March 9 refusing to undergo tests.

Later, he was traced and admitted to the hospital in Bantwal and his throat swab samples had been sent to Viral Research Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) in Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences.

Meanwhile, throat swab samples of six patients were also found negative for COVID-19.

As many asf 49 people were under quarantine in the district of which five have completed the 28-day cycle.

All passengers arriving by international flights and those in contact with them should voluntarily report to the district health team and undergo self-quarantine for 14 days. If there were symptoms of cough, cold and fever, they should undergo tests for COVID-19. If the reports were positive for COVID-19, then they have to stay in the isolation ward of the Government Wenlock Hospital or in the seven select private hospitals for 28 days.

Screening facility at the airport has been strengthened by posting doctors from seven private medical colleges on rotation basis. These doctors would be in addition to the medical officer at the airport. An ambulance has been placed at the airport exclusively to shift people to the hospitals, she added.

The State government has issued a notification on Wednesday authorising Deputy Commissioners to get the affected admitted by force, if necessary.

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News Network
April 19,2020

New Delhi, Apr 19: The government on Sunday prohibited the sale of non-essential items through e-commerce platforms during the ongoing lockdown, four days after allowing such companies to sale mobile phones, refrigerators and ready-made garments.

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla issued an order excluding the non-essential items from sale by the e-commerce companies from the consolidated revised guidelines, which listed the exemption given to the services and people from the purview of the lockdown.

The order said the following clause -- "E-commerce companies. Vehicles used by e-commerce operators will be allowed to ply with necessary permissions" -- is excluded from the guidelines.

The previous order had said such items were allowed for sale through e-commerce platforms from April 20.

However, the reason for reversing the order is not known immediately.

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