NEW DELHI: Fifty percent of India’s freshwater-based coal-fired power plants, surveyed by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), do not meet the 2015 water use standards, said a new study.
The CSE, New Delhi-based environmental policy think-tank, surveyed 132 power plants, having total installed capacity of over 154 GW, and found that half of these freshwater-based plants did not comply with the specified standards. Majority of the non-complying plants belong to state-owned companies with Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra possessing the maximum number of such plants.
The study, highlighting how the water-guzzling coal-based power industry is ignoring water regulations even six years after the norms were introduced, noted that the sector is adding to water stress in the country as about 48% of the existing coal power fleet is located in water-scarce districts.
The 2015 water norms (later amended in 2018) for power plants were introduced along with the emission norms. While the deadline for emission norms was extended in 2017 and again in 2021, there is no fresh deadline for compliance of water consumption limit after the previous deadline of December 2017 ended.
“There is no deadline for the power plants to meet the water use norms. Who is going to comply with it when there is no deadline? The environment ministry must set a deadline and enforce its adherence by the power plants,” said Nivit Kumar Yadav, programme director, industrial pollution unit of the CSE.
The study underlined that it was only in January 2019 that the CPCB asked thermal power plants to submit their specific water consumption data on a quarterly basis, starting from October– December 2018. Based on the data obtained, plants that were not meeting the specific water consumption limit were asked to submit time-targeted action plans for achieving the limit.
Yadav said the CSE found several loopholes in “self-reported data and data format” as it did not account for all water consumption. “Besides, there is no third-party monitoring and verification of the data, which is self-reported by plants. In such a scenario, there is a high probability of data manipulation and underreporting,” he said.
The CSE survey has found that most of the state-owned non-complying power plants are old and inefficient. Pitching for closing down such water-guzzling plants, specifically in water-stressed regions of India, the study noted that these plants are not just flouting the water norms, but also the emission norms causing air pollution.
As per the 2015 water use norms, plants installed before January 1, 2017 were required to meet a specific consumption limit of 3.5 cubic metres of water per MWh while the plants installed after January 1, 2017 had to meet the norm of 3 cubic metres of water per MWh, apart from adopting zero liquid discharge.
Additionally, all freshwater-based plants were required to install cooling towers and subsequently achieve the norm of 3.5 cubic metres of water per MWh. All sea water-based plants were exempted from meeting the norms.
Surprisingly, even a few younger plants commissioned after 2005 were found to be non-complying in the surveyed capacity. The CSE study flagged several such plants including Yermarus TPS and NTPC Kudgi in Karnataka, Bokaro ‘A’ TPS in Jharkhand, Dr Shyama Prasad TPS and NTPC Solapur in Maharashtra, NTPC Khargone in Madhya Pradesh and Sagardighi TPS in West Bengal.
The CSE, New Delhi-based environmental policy think-tank, surveyed 132 power plants, having total installed capacity of over 154 GW, and found that half of these freshwater-based plants did not comply with the specified standards. Majority of the non-complying plants belong to state-owned companies with Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra possessing the maximum number of such plants.
The study, highlighting how the water-guzzling coal-based power industry is ignoring water regulations even six years after the norms were introduced, noted that the sector is adding to water stress in the country as about 48% of the existing coal power fleet is located in water-scarce districts.
The 2015 water norms (later amended in 2018) for power plants were introduced along with the emission norms. While the deadline for emission norms was extended in 2017 and again in 2021, there is no fresh deadline for compliance of water consumption limit after the previous deadline of December 2017 ended.
“There is no deadline for the power plants to meet the water use norms. Who is going to comply with it when there is no deadline? The environment ministry must set a deadline and enforce its adherence by the power plants,” said Nivit Kumar Yadav, programme director, industrial pollution unit of the CSE.
The study underlined that it was only in January 2019 that the CPCB asked thermal power plants to submit their specific water consumption data on a quarterly basis, starting from October– December 2018. Based on the data obtained, plants that were not meeting the specific water consumption limit were asked to submit time-targeted action plans for achieving the limit.
Yadav said the CSE found several loopholes in “self-reported data and data format” as it did not account for all water consumption. “Besides, there is no third-party monitoring and verification of the data, which is self-reported by plants. In such a scenario, there is a high probability of data manipulation and underreporting,” he said.
The CSE survey has found that most of the state-owned non-complying power plants are old and inefficient. Pitching for closing down such water-guzzling plants, specifically in water-stressed regions of India, the study noted that these plants are not just flouting the water norms, but also the emission norms causing air pollution.
As per the 2015 water use norms, plants installed before January 1, 2017 were required to meet a specific consumption limit of 3.5 cubic metres of water per MWh while the plants installed after January 1, 2017 had to meet the norm of 3 cubic metres of water per MWh, apart from adopting zero liquid discharge.
Additionally, all freshwater-based plants were required to install cooling towers and subsequently achieve the norm of 3.5 cubic metres of water per MWh. All sea water-based plants were exempted from meeting the norms.
Surprisingly, even a few younger plants commissioned after 2005 were found to be non-complying in the surveyed capacity. The CSE study flagged several such plants including Yermarus TPS and NTPC Kudgi in Karnataka, Bokaro ‘A’ TPS in Jharkhand, Dr Shyama Prasad TPS and NTPC Solapur in Maharashtra, NTPC Khargone in Madhya Pradesh and Sagardighi TPS in West Bengal.
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