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'.
Of the 57 seats going to polls today, nine are from West Bengal, 13 from Uttar Pradesh, eight from Bihar, six from Odisha, four from Himachal Pradesh, three from Jharkhand, and the lone seat of Union Territory Chandigarh. All 13 seats of Punjab are also on today's list. The election is expected to be triangular, with INDIA allies Congress and Aam Aadmi Party having a "friendly" contest that is expected to split the non-BJP vote and play into BJP hands. Polling will also take place for the remaining 42 assembly seats and six Lok Sabha seats in Odisha. The BJP, which has replaced the Congress as the main Opposition party, is hoping to corner Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal. By-elections are being held on six assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh, which will also have a bearing on the fortunes of the state's Congress government. All six seats were held by Congress but the MLAs had turned rebel and cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha election, resigned and joined the BJP