Experts suggest mine filling by fly ash, state, coal companies silent

Santanu Saraswati
Environmental activists in Bengal might have been too busy stalling the proposed chemical hub project at Nayachar, but they have forgotten is the misery of few hundred people living in the Latiabani village at Mejia in Bankura district.

Environmental experts at Central Mining Research Institute (CMRI), Dhanbad had shown that filling underground mine activities densely with fly ash generated from the state thermal power stations. CMRI experts suggested that filling underground mine cavities densely with fly ash will not only solve the problems of fly ash disposal, at the same time will improve mining operations in the state.

The over dumped fly ash generated from Damodar Valley Corporation’s (DVC’s) Mejia thermal power plant not only violated all environmental norms, ultimately made life of few thousands people living in the Latiabani village miserable, as a thermal power plant with 1000-mega watt capacity generates 4,000 metric tonnes of fly ash daily—an amount which is beyond the environmental permissible norms. The state-run thermal power stations in Kolaghat, Bandel, Santaldih, Sagardighi, Bakreshwar, Durgapur, DVC’s Mejia, and Andal, NTPC’s unit at Farakka and CESC’s units at Budge Budge, Southern, New Southern, Titagargh, and Cossipore—altogether generates more than 11,000 mega watts of thermal power which means 44,000 metric tonnes of fly ash generated daily—leaving the power generation companies ongoing capacity augmentation programme—a picture that can become a nightmare for any normal human being living in Bengal, and a level of pollution which is no less than a chemical hub developed in an island.

According to CMRI, the efficacy of this method has already yielded significant results at a mine of the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) in Ramagundam in Andhra Pradesh. The experiment was jointly carried out by CMRI, SCCL and the Ramagundam super thermal power station of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). The CMRI even suggested the state government, as well as all the thermal power generating companies to follow the footsteps of SCCL and Ramagundam power plant.

“As per the guidelines of the CPCB, railway wagons carrying coal to the thermal power stations should carry back the fly ashes from the power units, as these wagons return empty to railway yards. While coal companies will be paying a part of the cost of carriage, the rest will be borne by the power stations. Freight charges will be at a subsidised rate. The wagons would dump the fly ashes to the mine for filling up the abandoned mine cavities,” said former member of central pollution control board and environmental activist, Shibabrata Chatterjee.

The Union Coal Ministry has already allocated 85 abandoned mine cavities to the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited (WBPDCL). These abandoned mines have the capacity of taking in 6,81, 99,700 tonnes of fly ash regularly. But surprisingly, no companies or administration has cared to follow the CPCB directives. “ The decision is not lying in our hands. Even we want this to implement. But the Union Power Ministry is yet to agree to this proposal in principle, neither the Railway Ministry has agreed to offer subsidised rate for wagons carrying back fly ashes from the thermal power stations. Once it get okayed by both the ministries, we will the first to implement this,” said Biswajit Mukherjee, chief law officer, state environment department.
EOM
santanu_saraswati@hotmail.com