Hindalco temporarily suspends operations at its alumina refinery in Jharkhand on red mud spill incident

According to a brief from Hindalco Industries on Wednesday April 10, the company temporarily suspended the operations of its alumina facility in Muri, Jharkhand, after an incident, in which the red mud storage area connected to the plant had collapsed leading to injuries.

"There was an incident in the red mud (bauxite residue) storage area connected to the alumina plant situated at Muri, Jharkhand, on 9th April 2019 (Tuesday). The incident involved a spillage in the red mud cake storage area," the company said in a filing to the BSE.

The company statement said that Hindalco suspended the operations temporarily to assess the situation and to prevent further damage.

According to the preliminary investigations, the incident had not caused any material harm to the surrounding environment or property. The company further added that efforts were already underway so that the spillage can be cleared without delay.

The statement also said that the incident caused injuries to four persons and one contract worker was missing. The statement said that the incident is not likely to have any impact on company’s performance.