Bhubaneswar, July 18 -- The National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered the Odisha government to permanently seal contaminated wells in the chromite-rich Sukinda valley, following findings that cancer-causing hexavalent chromium have contaminated the region's groundwater.

The eastern zonal bench of NGT passed July 10 order after a comprehensive study by Central Ground Water Board revealed alarming levels of cancer-causing hexavalent chromium in the region's deeper aquifers, even though the tribunal explicitly ruled out a direct link between the industrial pollution and a highly publicized string of kidney-related deaths in the area.

The NGT began the suo motu proceedings following a letter by Mantu Das, a resident of Odisha's Jajpur district,...