Fly ash to be removed within 4 years, says Panipat thermal station to NGT

Mukesh Tandon

Panipat, June 1

The Panipat Thermal Power Station (PTPS), in a supplementary reply to the National Green Tribunal (NGT), claimed that the fly ash stored in the ash dykes would be utilised within three to four years as the PTPS had signed MoUs with companies for lifting it.

The Chief Engineer (CE) in its reply said there were 108 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of fly ash presently stored in the ash dykes, while the demand was 178 LMT.

Subhender of Sutana village had filed a complaint with the NGT last year against the PTPS at Khukhrana village for causing pollution. In the complaint, he had alleged that the plant, which is based on coal, dumps fly ash residue in the nearby areas. The complainant alleged that during summers, ash particles fly into the nearby villages — Sutana, Jatal, Khukhrana, Untla, Aasan — and the commuters face problems due to it, also greatly increasing the chances of accidents.

Following the complaint, the NGT sought a detailed report from the PTPS about the utilisation of the fly ash within the last three years and a specific timeline for the its complete disposal.

In its reply to the NGT, the CE said there was a stock of 350 lakh MT legacy fly ash as on April 1, 2016, which had been reduced to 118 lakh MT within a time span of seven years, i.e. up to September 30, 2023.

The CE, in its reply filed on May 29, said 82.51 LMT was utilised in 2021-22 financial year (FY), 64.48 LMT in 2022-23, while it reduced to 34.89 LMT in 2023-24.

The main reason behind the fall in utilisation of fly ash and legacy fly ash was the district administration’s road safety meeting held in July 2023 which directed lifting ash from the pond site was only to take place at night from 9 pm to 7 am, which significantly affected the daily lifting of fly ash from the dykes.

Apart from this, the total heights of dykes were 12 to 19 metres. During the initial lifting in FY 2021-22 by NHAI concessionaires, it was easy to load trucks and transport the ash but now the depth of the dykes has increased the timings of transportation which has further affected the daily lifting of fly ash from the dykes. Another reason behind the slow lifting, is that the PTPS had signed a total of nine MoUs with the NHAI of which seven have been completed (one MoU in July 2023, 4 MoUs in February 2024 and two MoUs in March 2024) which also affected the lifting, said the CE.

The CE, further said that the PTPS has signed two MoUs with Shree Cement and one with Tomar Enterprises and allocated a total of 185 LMT of fly ash to them. They have lifted only 6.46 LMT since March 31. Presently, 2000 MT legacy ash is being lifted per day from the ash dykes by the proponents, he said.

The CE also said that the entire pond ash stored in the ash dykes would be utilised completely within the next 3 to 4 years because the demand of the ash is about 178 LMT against the available quantity of 108 LMT.

Apart from this the PTPS is going to develop a green belt spanning 17.5 acres adjacent to ash dykes towards nearby villages, regular water sprinkling is being done on Panipat-Jind road and approach roads to ash dykes areas and CCTV cameras have also been installed to monitor the trucks that lift the ash.