The Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) has completed two major works – 21 km new rail line from Srirampur mines and 44 km water pipeline from Pranahitha river to its 2×600 MW power plant at Pegadapalli in Mancherial district – to ensure hassle-free supply of coal and water to the power project.
According to the company officials, it is being planned to commence trial run of the two facilities from July 15. The new rail line would make transportation of coal environment-friendly by moving it in railway wagons instead of lorries now, Chairman and Managing Director of the company N. Sridhar said on Friday adding that the new water line would ensure dependable supply of 2 tmc ft water per annum, allocated already, to the power project. The company's decision to commence the trial run of both the rail line and water supply pipeline comes barely a day after the Ministry of Environment and Forests' (MoEF) Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) deferring the SCCL plea for extension of permission for road transportation of coal to the power project.
Additional information has been sought on traffic impact assessment, impact on traffic load and ambient air quality and noise levels. The temporary permission issued by MoEF for coal transportation by road ends on August 9 this year.
The 21 km rail line constructed by the coal company is the longest to be laid by it till date. The two new facilities have been constructed in a span of about three years with a total cost of ₹766 crore. The completion of the two facilities also assume significance in the backdrop of the company's plans to expand the power project by adding another 800 MW unit.
Giving the details of the two new facilities, the company officials said the 21 km rail line laid with a cost of ₹460 crore would help supply of about 50 lakh tonne coal required for the power project annually. Along with the 21 km main rail line, a 20 km siding for the loading and unloading purposes was also constructed to enable transportation with 3 to 4 rakes everyday.
Officials stated that about 18,000 tonnes of coal is being supplied to the power project every day now through 730 trips of lorries.
Similarly, the 44 km pipeline has been constructed with ₹306 crore from Devulwada village on the banks of Pranahitha river with two pumping stations en route as the present source, also on Pranahitha, at Shatpur has water shortage in the summer. The pipeline with 1.2 meter diameter pipes would have three pumps of 1.05 MW capacity each at head and three pumps with 1.2 MW capacity each at Chennur.