Tata Steel's Joda East Iron Mine bags "Pollution Control Excellence Award"

New Delhi, September 14, 2017: The Joda East Iron Mine (JEIM) of Tata Steel’s Ore Mines Quarries (OMQ) Division located in the Keonjhar district of Odisha received the "Pollution Control Excellence Award" for the year 2017 in the category of mines from State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), Odisha.

Mr Debashis Jena, Chief (Joda), Tata Steel, Mr Dipak Behera, Head (Planning), OMQ , Tata Steel, Mr Aswini Prasad Mohanty, Resident Executive, Tata Steel, Bhubaneswar, Mr Utsav Kashyap, Senior Manager (Environment), OMQ, Tata Steel and Ms Priyanka Upadhyay, Manager (Environment), JEIM, Tata Steel received the award on behalf of Tata Steel from Mr Suresh Chandra Mahapatra, Principal Secretary, Department of Energy, Govt. of Odisha in the presence of Mr R. Balakrishnan, IAS, Development Commissioner-cum-Additional Chief Secretary of Odisha and the Chairman of SPCB, Odisha and Mr Debidutta Biswal, IFS, Member Secretary, SPCB, Odisha. The award ceremony was organised on the occasion of 34th Foundation Day ceremony of SPCB, Odisha at Jaydev Bhawan, Bhubaneswar on September 14, 2017.

Mr Pankaj Satija, General Manager (OMQ) Division Tata Steel said: “We are honoured to have been recognized for our initiatives towards effective pollution control measures and adoption of sound environmental management practices at JEIM. We are implementing the concept of responsible mining to harmonize economic growth and environmental protection for sustainable development and continuously working towards conservation and promotion of green and clean environment.”

JEIM has adopted the best and innovative techniques to control water and air pollution and manage solid, hazardous and biomedical waste. Systems like thickeners, zero discharge slime ponds, oil catchment pits and sewage treatment plants have been installed to control water pollution. Initiatives like mobile and fixed water sprinklers in mining area, dry fog system, regular vehicle emission test and wet drilling methods are some of the steps towards control of air pollution. Similarly three Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations have been installed to monitor the ambient air continuously at JEIM area. Reclamation and rehabilitation has been ensured through green belt development for conservation and protection of dump area.