This story is from May 29, 2021

Fly ash mismanagement posing serious threat to people near power plants

Fly ash mismanagement posing serious threat to people near power plants
Nagpur: While many Indian cities celebrated improvement in air quality during the lockdown, those having coal-fired power plants nearby continued to suffer. Between April 2020 and March 2021, 17 major incidents related to fly ash pollution occurred in seven states, putting public health at risk.
This was revealed in a report ‘Coal Ash in India – Vol II: An environmental, social and legal compendium of coal ash mismanagement in India, 2020-21’ released by the Healthy Energy Initiative India and Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE).

Of the 17 major incidents, one took place in Nagpur, when fly ash from Khaparkheda power plant was discharged in Kanhan river, one of the sources of water supply to the city, in December 2020. TOI had then reported how fly-ash is carcinogenic and can cause many health ailments. “Areas like Vidarbha are already water-starved. If drinking water sources get contaminated due to fly ash, it would have a major impact on public health and agriculture,” said Shweta Narayan.
Apart from this, other incidents were reported from Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Maharashtra. “Ash pond collapse, air pollution from ash ponds and discharge of coal fly ash into rivers, streams and other water bodies were the most prevalent incidents, indicating the dismal state of coal fly ash management in the country. Most of these locations are regions where coal fly ash disposal is a perennial problem and leaks, and accidents are routine,” the report stated.
While big cities like Delhi celebrated clean air and blue skies during the Covid lockdown, experts found that many regions reported multiple incidents and accidents related to fly ash mismanagement. In West Bengal, two Bangladeshi barges ferrying fly ash sank in Hooghly at South 24-Parganas in April 2020.
At Singrauli In Madhya Pradesh, the ash dump yard of Reliance Power’s Ultra Mega Power Project in Sasan area collapsed in April 2020. In Tamil Nadu, toxic fly ash slurry from busted pipeline of North Chennai thermal plant flooded the village in April 2020. In October 2020, fly ash from power station leaked into Ennore creek.

“We also found that residents from coal hotspots reported that many power companies used the Covid-19 lockdown to dump waste indiscriminately in water bodies, villages and around the highways, causing irreparable harm to the environment and public health,” said Pooja Kumar of Healthy Energy Initiative India.
Stating that Korba has witnessed unprecedented coal fly ash pollution in the last one year, local activist Laxmi Chauhan said, “We have been living here for decades but have never seen a sight like this before. The power companies have used Covid-19 restrictions to dump coal fly ash wherever they could. Piles of fly ash can be found along the entire highway and ring roads and in villages everywhere. With summer winds, we are seeing the entire city covered in fly ash and we are breathing fly ash. Despite several complaints, no action has been taken on the errant companies.”
Advocate Ritwick Dutta of LIFE said, “Coal ash is the most ignored threat to the health of the community and the environment. India’s regulatory mechanism has failed to deal with the problem, which continues to increase every passing year; while courts are yet to hold a company criminally liable for the toxic pollution caused by callous approach of power companies.”
This report also focuses on an in-depth legal and policy analysis and gaps in implementation of emerging trend of courts imposing environmental compensation for violations on the issue of coal fly ash. “The legal position is clear with respect to the liability of project proponents responsible for breach of fly ash – they are absolutely liable for both the damages and cost of restoration. Despite this clear judicial precedents, the courts and tribunal have rarely fixed the liability on the violators, which reflects in both, the damage caused and the cost of restoration,” it stated.
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