Nalgonda to pay price for power hub

Every day, at least 18,000 tonnes of ash will be generated

Nalgonda, which is going to become the power hub of Telangana with the installation of nine new thermal stations with a total capacity of 6,800 MW, will have to pay a heavy price if ultramodern equipment is not used in the construction of plants.

According to official estimates, not less than 18,000 tonnes of ash will be generated everyday which has to be disposed of from the vicinity immediately.

The Telangana government is planning to use a mix-up of washed coal and imported coal which can reduce the ash content, said Prabhakara Rao, MD of GENCO. “The washed coal will reduce the ash by 15 per cent. But the cost of importing and washing the coal will increase the Budget” he said.

Alarmed over the impending danger, the TSGenco has asked BHEL to install ultramodern boilers, which can combust more coal and produce less ash. Most coal-fired power station boilers use pulverised coal, and many of the larger industrial watertube boilers also use this pulverised fuel.

“Fluidised bed combustion has emerged as a viable alternative and has advantages over conventional firing system and offers multiple benefits like compact boiler design, fuel flexibility, higher combustion efficiency and reduced emission of noxious pollutants but this has not been used here,” M. Venugopala Rao, an expert on power issues said.

Japanese coal emits just eight tonnes of ash from every 100 tonnes, which is immediately disposed of by sending them to cement companies, civil engineering works and land filling. That is not being done in Telangana or AP.

Successive governments failed to sell it off to private parties on time and as a result, thousands of tonnes of ash have piled up for the last several months in nearly all the thermal stations.

The massive coal heaps will cause immense harm to the environment and human health, according to experts. The fly ash can affect mainly lungs and lead to severe bronchitis and even histoplasmosis, a lung disease which is fatal.

Another problem is that the ash particles, inhaled by stray dogs, sheep, cattle etc can transmit it to humans leading heart, liver problems, Dr Sasikala Rangaswamy said.