pollution VII

Thermal plants: Residents doubt if more will be merrier
Rajay Deep/TNS

Bathinda, February 16
The state government is planning to develop the Bathinda region as a power generation hub. While this is a welcome step keeping in view the power shortfall that the state has to witness from time to time, it has also started increasing the worries of the residents here.
Recently, the authorities had announced that there would six thermal plants in a 50-km radius of Bathinda. On the environmental front, it has raised some eyebrows as people here are already reeling under the impact of the fly ash and groundwater contamination and steps to check this have not been quite visible.
The two already functional thermal power plants in Bathinda district—the 440 MW Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant and 920 MW Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant — consume thousands of tonnes of coal, nearly two and four rakes of 52 coal wagons, respectively, every day.
Besides the thermal plants, Bathinda has a fertilisers factory, which also contributes its share to environmental degradation. Though there are two cement factories in the district, the hazardous fly ash being dumped in the open and near the rail tracks is a common sight here.
That cars parked in the city get covered with a thick coat of fly ash within hours speaks volumes of the pollution residents are being subjected to. Almost every second child is visiting a paediatrician or general practitioner showing symptoms of respiratory or ophthalmic diseases like cough, shortness of breath, asthma and symptoms of nasal allergy.
It is learnt that one 2,640 MW thermal plant at Banawali (Mansa) is under construction while the other three — 1,320 MW capacity each at Gobindpura (Mansa) and Kotshamir (Bathinda) and one 2640 MW at Gidderbaha (Muktsar)—are undergoing land acquisition process.
Though the government claims the new thermal plants will meet the pollution control norms, skepticism prevails.
Executive Director of the Kheti Virasat Mission Umendra Dutta said setting up six thermal plants in the region is the best example of the imbalance in government’s approach as well as that of the PPCB.
“A clear blue sky has already become a rare occurrence,” rues MM Behal, president of the joint action committee formed to campaign against the problem of fly ash.
An environmentalist, Dr GS Dhillon, who is also a former chief engineer, irrigation, says burning of coal in thermal plants results in creating 30 per cent fly ash and it will only lead to air and water pollution. It is also a possible cause for the presence of uranium in water in the Malwa region, he said.
Asked why the Punjab Pollution Control Board allowed so many thermal plants to be set up within a small area, Board chairman Rajat Aggarwal said, “Selection of land is the prerogative of the entrepreneur, we are just concerned about the norms, which they must follow.” Asked if the existing level of pollution was beyond the permissible limits, he said the plant authorities had been directed to check it.