The SanvaadGarh | June 25, 2025
Yesterday, Vedanta splashed a full-page ad in Dainik Bhaskar, touting “Vedanta for Good” with promises of a sustainable future metals for progress, renewable energy, and community upliftment. The glossy image of a bridge over green fields screams transformation. But in Korba, where Vedanta’s subsidiary BALCO (Bharat Aluminium Company) operates, the reality is a choking haze of fly-ash, poisoned rivers, and sick children. SanvaadGarh brings out the chasm between Vedanta’s corporate fairy tale and the toxic truth, demanding answers from a company that dares to call itself “for good.”
Vedanta’s ad paints a utopian picture:
- Sustainability: Producing aluminum, zinc, lead, copper, cobalt, nickel, and more, with a nod to renewables and power.
- Community Benefit: Claims of transforming lives with critical minerals and technology (electronics, display glass).
- Innovation: A bridge symbolizing progress, backed by a commitment to India’s needs.
Yet, this narrative crumbles when tested against BALCO’s actions in Korba.
A Toxic Counterpoint
BALCO’s operations tell a different story:
- 2017 Breach: An ash-dyke collapse sent toxic slurry into the Hasdeo River, prompting a Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board (CGECB) closure notice. Eight years later, no remediation plan or penalties exist. [Source: Moneycontrol, 2017]
- Air Pollution: PM2.5 levels hit 1,699.2 µg/m³ – 28 times India’s safe limit blanketing Korba with fly-ash clouds. [Sources: Mongabay, 2023; cgkhabar.com, 2024]
- Water and Soil Poison: The 2025 Centre for Science and Environment report flags heavy metals (manganese, lead, nickel) in the Hasdeo River and degraded farmland, contradicting Vedanta’s “green” claims. [Sources: India Water Portal, 2024; Down to Earth, 2025]
Where’s the sustainability in a region where crops fail and rivers turn toxic?
Health Crisis: Children Pay the Price
Vedanta’s ad brags about uplifting communities, but Korba’s children are collateral damage:
- Respiratory Surge: Asthma and respiratory cases doubled from 2020 to 2024 at Korba’s district hospital, tied to PM2.5 exposure.
- Heavy Metal Threat: A 2025 US report links lead and nickel—found in BALCO’s fly-ash—to chronic illnesses in kids, a risk amplified by contaminated water and soil.
- Neglect: No medical relief or monitoring, despite Vedanta’s promise to transform lives.
This isn’t upliftment—it’s abandonment.
BALCO’s Hollow Claims
Vedanta’s ad highlights innovation, but BALCO’s record is a sham:
- Afforestation Lie: BALCO planted 200,000 saplings across 150 hectares (March 2024), yet dust storms persist, and no independent audit verifies survival rates.
- Ash Utilisation Myth: Claiming “150% ash utilisation” in FY 24 with deals for 165,000 tonnes, BALCO hides the fate of 4 million tonnes of ash. No safety data on active dykes or groundwater.
- Past Negligence: The 2009 chimney collapse, killing 45 workers, exposed BALCO’s disregard for safety—hardly a foundation for “transformation.”
Where’s the innovation when ash ponds threaten collapse?
Vedanta’s ad is a slap in the face to Korba’s residents. Their bridge leads to a wasteland, not progress.
SanvaadGarh demands:
- Release the 2017 remediation plan now.
- Prove ash dyke safety with engineering reports and satellite data.
- Audit “150% ash utilisation” and disclose ash destinations.
- Install real-time air monitors and fund health relief for kids.
- End the regulatory blackout with transparent CGECB data.
This article uses public data and community reports.
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