New Delhi: Fifty percent of freshwater-based coal power plants, which are surveyed by the Center for Science and Environment (CSE), do not meet the 2015 Water Use Standards, said a new study.
CSE, Delhi-based environmental policy based in Delhi, surveyed 132 power plants, had a total installed capacity of more than 154 GW, and found that half of these freshwater-based plants did not comply with the specified standards.
The majority of non-compliant plants belong to state-owned companies with Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra have the maximum number of these plants.
The study, highlighted how the water-based coal-based energy industry ignored even six years after the norm was introduced, noting that this sector added water pressure in this country with around 48% of the existing coal fleet located in the rare districts of the water , 2015 water norm (then changed in 2018) for power plants was introduced along with emissions norms.
While the deadline for emissions norms was extended in 2017 and again in 2021, there was no new deadline for the compliance of water consumption limits after the previous December 2017 deadline ended.
“There is no deadline for power plants to meet the norms of water use.
Who will obey when there is no deadline? The Ministry of Environment must set a deadline and uphold its compliance by the power plant,” said Nivit Kumar Yadav, Director of the Program, Unit CSE industrial pollution.
The study underlines that it was only in January 2019 that CPCB asked a hot power plant to submit their specific water consumption data every quarter, starting from October to December 2018.
Based on the data obtained, plants that did not meet certain water consumption limits were asked to send action plans targeted time to reach the limit.
Yadav said CSE found several gaps in “self-reported data and data formats” because they did not take into account all water consumption.
“In addition, there are no third-party monitoring and verification, which are reported by plants.
In such a scenario, there is a high probability of data manipulation and underporting,” he said.
The CSE survey has found that most non-compliance power plants that do not suit the state and are inefficient.
Pitching to cover such water wheat plants, especially in the Indian region depressed in India, this study notes that this plant does not only violate water norms, but also emissions that cause air pollution.
In accordance with the 2015 water use norm, plants installed before January 1, 2017 are needed to meet certain consumption limits of 3.5 cubic meters of water per MWH while the factory is installed after January 1, 2017 must meet the norm of 3 cubic meters of water per mwh, in addition to adopting zero fluid out.
In addition, all freshwater-based plants are needed to install a cooling tower and then reach the norm of 3.5 cubic meters of water per mwh.
All sea-based plants are released from fulfilling the norm.
Strangely, even some young plants assigned after 2005 were found not obeying the surveyed capacity.
The CSE study marks several such plants including Yermarus TPS and NTPC Kudgi in Karnataka, TPS ‘A’ Bokaro in Jharkhand, Dr Shyama Prasad TPS and NTPC Solapur in Madarashtra, NTPC Khargone in Madhya Pradesh and Sagardighi TPS in West Bengal.