World’s Biggest Zinc smelter project in Gujarat

The State Government of Gujarat has signed Memorandum of Understanding with the Vedanta group to set up the smelter.

• The State Government of Gujarat has signed Memorandum of Understanding with the Vedanta group to set up the smelter.
• The smelter to be erecter will be the lowest cost smelter in the world. The facility is to be constructed in an area of 415 hectares.
• The Thoothukudi Massacre that occurred in 2018 in Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu was during a protest against expansion of copper smelter plant of Sterlite Corporation.
• It was due to the Copper Smelter plant, there was increased prevalence of respiratory diseases in 5-km radius of the plant. Also, the groundwater iron content increased by 17 to 20 times as that of the permissible limits.
• Smelting is the process by which heat is applied to extract a metal from its ore. The process is used to extract copper, iron, silver, zinc and other base metals.
• During heating, apart from the metal, several other chemical components are emitted. Of these, sulphur dioxide and hydrogen dioxide nauseous and pollute the atmosphere.
• The waste products of smelting are released into water supplies. Such waste contains lead and chromium that are hazardous to plant and animal life.
• Acid rains are common in the regions of smelting plants. Acid rain erodes land and makes it unfit for cultivation.
• The workers in the smelting plans are exposed to toxic chemicals. Inhalation of these chemicals harm the worker health and productivity.