NAGPUR: Fourteen coal-based power plants in the country are set to face severe action for defying the deadline set for installing environment protection measures. In show cause notices sent on January 31 – a day before the Union budget – the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) sought an explanation from the plants why they should not be closed down and environmental compensation be imposed.
Significantly, the board sent the letters exactly a month after the second deadline (December 31, 2019) expired for emission reduction that was submitted in the Supreme Court. Continuous attempts by TOI throughout January asking what action was being planned did not elicit information from the body.
On January 19, TOI had reported that the operation of plants post the deadline was in violation of the Centre’s promises made in the apex court.
Among the designated plants – which totally produce around 16.41GW of power – 5 are in Haryana, 3 in Punjab, 2 each in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and 1 in Tamil Nadu.
While announcing the Union budget on February 1, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that old plants not meeting emissions norms will be closed. Show casue notices issued the next day have granted power plants a time period of 15 days to submit their responses.
Speaking to TOI, CPCB’s member secretary Prashant Gargava said that the board will be reviewing individual progress made by all the plants. “While we have issued similar show cause notices to all units which failed to comply with our directions, different actions will be taken as the plants are at different stages of installing pollution control equipment. Some have initiated the bidding process, some are expected to comply with the emissions in a month or two,” he said.
According to the notices, different plants have failed in complying with emission targets of different pollutants including sulphur dioxide, particulate matter and oxide of nitrogen. All the 14 plants have failed to retrofit flu-gas desulphurization (FGD), a technology to control SO2 emissions.
Welcoming the step taken by CPCB, environment experts stated that strict action should be taken to set a strong precedent for other power plants. “Units which are yet to make significant progress should be shut down and penalized heavily. To ensure that the other plants having 2020 and later deadlines do not meet the same fate, CPCB should set interim targets and milestones,” said Sunil Dahiya, analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
In a notification issued by the Union environment ministry in December 2015, all coal-fired power plants were first directed to install pollution-control technologies by December 2017. The plants failed to do so.
The deadline was then extended to December 2019 after the ministry of power and central electricity authority (CEA) submitted a new phasing plan in the Supreme Court in 2018.
The ministry submission came during a hearing related to extension of deadline for implementing emission standards as part of the MC Mehta case.
Significantly, the board sent the letters exactly a month after the second deadline (December 31, 2019) expired for emission reduction that was submitted in the Supreme Court. Continuous attempts by TOI throughout January asking what action was being planned did not elicit information from the body.
On January 19, TOI had reported that the operation of plants post the deadline was in violation of the Centre’s promises made in the apex court.
Among the designated plants – which totally produce around 16.41GW of power – 5 are in Haryana, 3 in Punjab, 2 each in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and 1 in Tamil Nadu.
While announcing the Union budget on February 1, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that old plants not meeting emissions norms will be closed. Show casue notices issued the next day have granted power plants a time period of 15 days to submit their responses.
Speaking to TOI, CPCB’s member secretary Prashant Gargava said that the board will be reviewing individual progress made by all the plants. “While we have issued similar show cause notices to all units which failed to comply with our directions, different actions will be taken as the plants are at different stages of installing pollution control equipment. Some have initiated the bidding process, some are expected to comply with the emissions in a month or two,” he said.
According to the notices, different plants have failed in complying with emission targets of different pollutants including sulphur dioxide, particulate matter and oxide of nitrogen. All the 14 plants have failed to retrofit flu-gas desulphurization (FGD), a technology to control SO2 emissions.
Welcoming the step taken by CPCB, environment experts stated that strict action should be taken to set a strong precedent for other power plants. “Units which are yet to make significant progress should be shut down and penalized heavily. To ensure that the other plants having 2020 and later deadlines do not meet the same fate, CPCB should set interim targets and milestones,” said Sunil Dahiya, analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
In a notification issued by the Union environment ministry in December 2015, all coal-fired power plants were first directed to install pollution-control technologies by December 2017. The plants failed to do so.
The deadline was then extended to December 2019 after the ministry of power and central electricity authority (CEA) submitted a new phasing plan in the Supreme Court in 2018.
The ministry submission came during a hearing related to extension of deadline for implementing emission standards as part of the MC Mehta case.
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