Cloud over ‘ash dumping’ by Bokaro thermal plants. Ranchi News – Times of India

Ranchi : A settlement named Jhari Basti situated on the side of the railway tracks passing through Lalpania Bokaro, is surrounded by large ash dumps. The dumping has been done by whom in an area called “Low Zone”? Tenughat Vidyut Nigam Limited ,TVNL) which utilizes 100% of the flyash generated from its plant – Tenughat Power Station for reclaiming low-lying areas.
In 2020-21, out of ash production of 0.51 million tonnes, TVNL disposed of 92% ash, mostly in low-lying landfills.
Local resident Ashish Kumar (name changed) said that dumping has been going on for many years “where earlier people used to cultivate the crop, now there is grass. There are essentially large piles of ash covered with soil – about 25-30 feet above ‘ground’ level. Old ash heaps are covered with layers of soil and can be seen on either side of the railway tracks,” he said. Kumar worries that on the one hand the arable land has become a pile of fly ash and on the other, if the crop cultivation on these dumps will be safe.
There were strict guidelines for the thermal power station to dump the fly ash and its disposal plan was an essential part of the Environment Impact Assessment Report. However, in 2019, the Ministry of Forest Environment and Climate Change came out with an office memorandum allowing and promoting the use of flyash in reclamation of low-lying areas and in filling abandoned mines as a soil conditioner in agriculture .
Since the issue of the OM on August 28, 2019, thermal power plants started dumping flyash at every possible location in the name of “reclaiming the lowlands”. Instead of filling low-lying areas, it mostly created massive dumps in Bokaro, a district that has several thermal power plants.
Pune based research team Manthan Study Center Recently visited Bokaro, to find out whether handling of fly ash by thermal power plants is likely to cause environmental degradation or groundwater contamination. “Our study on the quality of groundwater in and around the areas of Koradi and Khaparkheda power plants in Nagpur, Maharashtra showed that the groundwater was rich in toxic heavy metals,” he said. sehar rahejaOne of the authors of the research report.