MahaGenco forms environment surveillance panel for Koradi TPS
| Date :20-May-2022 |
Staff Reporter
The State-run power generation company, MahaGenco, has formed the environment surveillance committee for Koradi Thermal Power Station to keep tab on pollution arising from the power plant, recently.
The Chief Engineer of Koradi TPS released a letter on Thursday, stating that the committee would have 14 members who will monitor and ensure compliance with environmental norms.
According to the letter, the committee is led by Koradi TPS Chief Engineer and comprises of other officials responsible for fly ash and effluent pollution control, a representative from non-governmental organisation Centre for Sustainable Development (CFSD), and Sarpanchs of four villages affected by the project. The affected villages are Khairi, Mhasala, Kawtha and Khasala.
As per the letter, “Members will convene once every three months and the committee’s major role will be to observe environmental compliance in the region around the plant.”
It is second such committee formed by MahaGenco after Khaperkheda TPS. During recent visit, Environment Minister Aditya Thackeray had announced a study across all power plants in the State to determine how ageing and polluting coal-fired power stations could be phased out in a systematic manner.
The committee was also formed in the backdrop of analytical report ‘Polluted Power: How Koradi And Khaperkheda Thermal Power Stations Are Impacting The Environment’, which highlighted how the power plants were contaminating water bodies and recommended formation of a local environmental surveillance committee to address concerns of water pollution on a regular basis. The report was jointly released by Centre For
Sustainable Development (CFSD) and Manthan Adhyayan Kendra.
On the basis of the report, a team of Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) conducted an inspection in all water and air pollution affected villages and locations near Koradi TPS. The team, in its report, recommended to form a surveillance committee in both thermal power stations.
Calling it a positive development, founder of CFSD Leena Buddhe said, “It is good that MahaGenco is acting as per the directives and recommendations of MoEF&CC and our report. We are looking forward to actions on mitigating pollution on ground which will be a huge relief to the impacted communities and environment.” The committee consist of Chief Engineer, Koradi TPS; Deputy Chief Engineer, Koradi TPS; four Superintending Engineers; four Executive Engineers of Koradi TPS; Leena Buddhe, Founder, CFSD; and Sarpanchs of Khairi, Mahasla, Kawtha and Khasala villages.