A water storage facility breach at miner Vedanta Aluminium's unit in Odisha has impacted agricultural land, the company said on Monday. The incident, which happened at Vedanta's Lanjigarh alumina refinery in Odisha on Sunday, has alarmed environment experts who pointed out it was a serious matter as the toxic byproduct 'red mud' was involved. The pumped water level, or PWL, has causticity in water, meaning it can corrode organic tissue by damaging skin, eyes and mucus membranes. The water overflowed due to heavy rain, Vedanta Aluminium said. Visuals of the industrial incident show process water lake downstream of a pond that appeared to have been formed by 'red mud'. A large volume of muddy red water was also seen flowing into open areas. The water covered the ground where some trees stood, and ran over other forms of vegetation. 'Red mud' is the waste generated in production of alumina from bauxite. It is also known as 'bauxite residue'.
Days ahead of the Aam Aadmi Party's mega political conclave in Assam's Guwahati, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has hit out at his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal. Mr Sarma has challenged Mr Kejriwal to come to Assam and say what he said in the Delhi assembly recently. Mr Kejriwal had reportedly said in the Delhi assembly that there are cases filed against Mr Sarma in other states. "Arvind Kejriwal is a coward who is hiding behind the veil of immunity in Delhi assembly and uttering white lies," Mr Sarma told reporters. "Let him say there's a corruption case pending against me outside the assembly premises and I will sue him in the same manner I did with his colleague Manish Sisodia," the Assam Chief Minister told reporters in Guwahati. Mr Kejriwal along with his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann is scheduled to attend their first political rally in Assam on April 2. "It's not important where Arvind Kejriwal has said, important is that