Nagpur: After spending a few crores, Mahagenco has dumped former energy minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule’s pet project — Koradi fly-ash cluster. The cluster’s bhoomipuja had been done with much fanfare by Bawankule in August 2017. He had set a target of making the project operational by December 2017, but Mahagenco’s subsidiary Mahagenco Ash Management Services (Mahagams) couldn’t meet the deadline.
Mahagams had planned to invite all brick kiln owners around the city to the cluster. In addition to these kilns, new fly-ash based industries were to come up in the cluster.
The first hurdle Mahagams hit was due to a goof up by Nagpur Metropolitan Region Development Authority (NMRDA). The authority reserved the cluster area as green zone. Bawankule had to take up the issue with the then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to get the reservation changed.
Mahagams then spent a few crores on removing bushes from the land and providing basic infrastructure. However, not a single industry has started in the cluster. Mahagenco spokesperson admitted that there was no progress on the project.
“NMRDA had issued notices to brick kiln owners who were operating in the area within 500 metre of municipal limits, which is illegal as per central government rules. The brick kiln applied to Mahagenco for a plot in the cluster. However, the plot size was too small for the owners and they refused to shift. NMRDA too did not bother to evict the brick kilns,” said a Mahagenco official.
Bawankule’s successor Nitin Raut has not shown any interest in the cluster. Mahagenco officials say the incumbent minister is not much interested in Mahagams either.
This in spite of the fact that fly-ash utilization of Koradi and Khaparkheda power plants is very poor. The fly-ash utilization of Koradi power plant in 2017-18 was only 13.14%, 29.12% in 2018-19 and 22.89% during the first half of 2019-20. The corresponding figures for Khaparkheda plant are: 2017-18 (35.56%), 2018-19 (14.24%) and first half of 2019-20 (20.81%).
On August 6, fly-ash from Waregaon ash bund of Khaparkheda plant got discharged into Kanhan river forcing Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) to stop pumping for four hours. In the coming weeks, activists Pratap Goswami and Anil Wadpalliwar had clicked photographs of fly-ash being discharged into the river from this bund.