'Why is Badarpur plant still running?'
NEW DELHI: Despite notices from the EPCA, why the Badarpur Power Plant has no plans to be closed down by the authorities, environmentalists raised questions.
They also pointed out that the non-closer is due to the delay in setting up the Tughlakabad power grid.
The Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority (EPCA) had last October ordered the closure of this plant to curb air pollution in the national Capital.
The Badarpur plant, which contributes 11 per cent of particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), was declared the poorest performing coal-based power plant in Delhi on the parameters of environmental performance and energy efficiency by NGO Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
Activists urged the government to close down the power plant and follow the instructions of EPCA.
Earlier, Sunil Dahiya of Greenpeace India, said, "Delhi does not need it. The power generated by the plant is not only dirtier in terms of the pollution caused but also more expensive. The decision to reopen the power station is wrong from the environmental, economic and overall sustainability perspectives."
He added that the recent Annual Generation Target 2017-2018 of the Central Electricity Authority showed that the Badarpur plant would be inefficient.
"Badarpur is just one example of the larger problem the country is facing with respect to the increasing cost, underutilisation and high pollution from coal-based power generation," he said.
NTPC's Badarpur plant was declared the poorest performing of all. This plant, which contributed a relatively meagre share of Delhi's power (7.9 per cent during April to October 2015), contributed around 80-90 per cent of the particulate matter, SOx and NOx, generated by the power sector in Delhi.
Earlier, environmentalists in Delhi had protested the reopening of the Badarpur plant. The Supreme Court authorized Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority had ordered the reopening of the plant on March 1 as the pollution levels had decreased.
Meanwhile, sources in the Delhi government said that there is no way the government can stop the Badarpur power plant as it will create a huge power crisis in the state. The sources also said that the work of Tughlakabad station is on but for many reasons it was delayed.
However, the government sources noted that even if the new power grid starts, the Badarpur power plant will be needed for some time as for a new plant it will not be possible to generate as much power as Badarpur from the first day.
