Ropar, January 23
Even when the issue of the mass death of fish in Sutlej river near Nangal, allegedly due to release of polluting effluents has been taken up by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, another major ecological catastrophe occurred, when thousands of tonnes fly ash flowed into the river. The ash flowed into the river due to a breach in the southern ash dyke of the Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Plant (GGSSTP).

The breach in the said ash dyke, which is spread over 200 acres and has a depth of 11 metres started yesterday. Due to breach untreated water containing ash slurry started flowing into the Ghanauli siphon drain which further ends into Sutlej near Chak Dera village. The sources said that the breach occurred due to poor quality of earth used to construct bundh of the dyke. Earth dug from inside the dyke, which was not according to specifications, was used to construct the bundh. The bundh constructed with substandard earth couldn’t withstand the pressure of water and ash slurry deposited in the dyke. A vigilance inquiry into the construction of bundh was pending, they said.

The General Manager of the GGSSTP, Mr V.K. Mahindroo, when contacted however, denied that the breach had occurred due to the use of interior earth material. He said that it might have occurred due to the weakening of the bundh due to rat holes. To avoid such incidents in future all bundhs on the ash dykes were being pressure-checked. In addition to it the design team of the plant also had been asked to take measures to prevent such incidents in future, he said.

When this correspondent visited the area today the breach in the dyke had widened to 10 metres at the base. Water mixed with ash slurry was still flowing through the breach into the Ghanauli siphon drain and further into Sutlej. The erosion of ash in the dyke could be seen in vast area with depths ranging from 10 feet to two feet. Reliable sources said that from the erosion in the dyke it seemed that thousands of tonnes of ash had flowed into the Ghanauli drain and Sutlej.

The environmentalists of the area have expressed concern at the large inflow of coal ash into the Sutlej especially near in the Ropar wetland area. They said these days thousands of migratory birds visit the Ropar wetland and the recent pollution might have detrimental effect on their health. They also say that the deposition of ash on the river-bed may damage aquatic life there and raise water level.

Moreover, since the thermal ash contains traces of heavy metals, it may also contaminate drinking water in the supply schemes located downstream of the river and the Sirhind canal, which originates from Sutlej at Ropar head works. The GGSSTP authorities instead of streaming the flow of ash slurry into the Sutlej were just concentrating on futuristic plans of joining the ash dykes, they alleged.