JSW Utkal Steel Ltd. (formerly JSW Steel Ltd.) received permission from the state Water Resources department in 2019 to lay a slurry pipeline transporting iron ore from Joda in Keonjhar district to its steel plant in Paradip.

Recently, the company extended the pipeline route from Joda to Kalamang in Sundargarh district. This extension has been approved by the department, with Under Secretary Sasmita Mishra directing the chief engineer to take necessary action December 5. The expanded pipeline route will cross 150 waterbodies, exacerbating concerns about the region’s declining groundwater levels.

Mining and industrial activities, particularly unregulated blasting in quarries, have already contaminated groundwater. A report submitted by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) to the National

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