NEW DELHI: The National Capital Power Station, Dadri, has taken major steps to curb thick smog in Delhi and NCR area due to burning of rice rabble left after harvesting by farmers in Western UP, Punjab and Haryana in the months of October-November. Addressing media person, Atul Kumar Das, group GM (NTPC) Dadri expressed his views on Friday.
"After completing the initial phases of test firing of biomass based pellets, NTPC has invited bids to supply 1,000 metric tonnes per day of agro residue based fuel (500 metric tonnes per day of agro residue pellets and 500 metric tonnes per day of torrefied agro residue based pellets or briquettes)," said Das. The move is a part of initiatives to help clean air and provide farmers with an alternate to burning crop residues, a major contributor to pollution.
The Head of Human Resources department, Keshav Kumar elaborated that 40 agro residue suppliers applied till now and the tenders sought supply for two years.
"Open burning of biomass has been identified as one of the major cause of poor air quality in Northern India, especially in and around Delhi," said Das.
NTPC has initiated a programme to consume agro residue based fuel for firing in their power plants along with coal. The government has also come with an advisory to fire 5%-10% of agro residue based fuel in thermal power plants.