‘Badarpur plant must function in summer to meet high demand’

AFTER THE Delhi government extended the closure of the Badarpur power plant, the city’s electricity department Friday said the facility will have to be made functional during summer to ensure uninterrupted power supply.

The Delhi government on Friday extended the closure of the Badarpur plant till further orders, in view of the prevailing air quality in the capital.

The decision was taken in a meeting of the environment department, chaired by the Environment Minister Imran Hussain and attended by senior officials of the department and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee.

During the meeting of the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA), power secretary Varsha Joshi insisted that the coal-based plant, considered a major source of air pollution in the city, needs to operate till the Tughlaqabad sub-station is commissioned to meet the city’s summer demand.

However, EPCA member Sunita Narain, the director general of CSE, made it clear that the sub-station has to be commissioned within a time-frame and there has to be a permanent closure plan for the NTPC-RUN Badarpur plant.

Measures taken under the graded response plan’s “severe to very poor” category will remain enforced for the rest of the winter season, EPCA said, adding that the Environment Ministry has renotified the plan by mentioning the required interventions under it.

The EPCA had rolled out the measures, which included closure of Badarpur plant, blanket ban on garbage burning and firecrackers, in its January 20 meeting after the plan, framed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) was notified by the Centre.

At the meeting, a representative from the NTPC claimed that authorities of the plant were complying with all norms and had managed to bind the emission levels within the safe parameters, but it did not satisfy the EPCA. “The plant will remain closed throughout the rest of the winter season,” Narain said.

(with PTI inputs)

The Badarpur plant