Some government officers are so callous towards their duties that they do not realize that it is harming them as well as their families. I realized this fact while doing a story on air pollution caused by Koradi Thermal Power Station (KTPS) of Mahagenco.
KTPS has caused air pollution in the city and adjoining areas ever since it was set up in 1970s. However, the pollution level has increased because of increase in capacity of the plant. Earlier, it was around 1,000 MW. Now it is over 2,000 MW. My colleague and I wanted to check whether emission levels of KTPS were within limits. Three new units of 660MW were being dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 14.
I got the figures from Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB). They showed that emission of pollutants was very much within limits. After the PM had dedicated the new units, I discussed with a power expert about the figures, who stressed that the figures had been fudged as pollution level could not be so low.
As per the analysis report of stack monitoring, the concentration of sulphur dioxide of KTPS was between the range 5.71-12.57 microgram per normal metric cube (microgram/NM3) between January and March this year. The permissible level is 200 microgram/NM3.
I then had a chat with Nitin Wagh, the chief engineer (environment) of Mahagenco, regarding KTPS pollution figures without referring to the MPCB data. Wagh told me that SO2 level was much more as per his knowledge. This was because KTPS had not installed a flue gas desulphuriser (FGD) for the new unit numbers 8, 9 and 10. TOI then carried a news item questioning the MPCB figures.
Mahagenco sent a clarification claiming that Wagh had talked to TOI regarding pollution. We refused to carry it unless Mahagenco provided us the actual pollution data. KTPS chief engineer Pankaj Sapate refused to e-mail the necessary figures. We went to KTPS office to get them.
The difference in MPCB and KTPS data was unbelievable. While MPCB's SO2 level for unit 9 of KTPS for the month of January was in single digits, KTPS average value for the same month was in four figures. It was MPCB's 5.71mg/NM3 versus KTPS' 1283 mg/NM3.
MPCB was at loss to explain the discrepancy. Regional officer Nagesh Lohalkar claimed that such variations were possible. MPCB took the sample for 28 minutes. It is the SO2 level at that given moment whereas KTPS's data was the average of continuous monitoring. Power experts however, debunked his explanation.
Meanwhile, activist Ankita Shah had lodged a complaint with the prime minister's office (PMO). The PMO directed Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to conduct an enquiry in this regard.
A four member team from CPCB's Vadodara office came to Koradi in June to monitor air pollution. The team members met us and took inputs from us. The CPCB report obtained by Shah under Right to Information (RTI) Act showed that MPCB data was flawed. CPCB also pointed out that MPCB and KTPS were not following many mandatory norms.
(Ashish Roy is a power-ful reporter who wants the city to breath clean air)
