The abrupt collapse of the Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP) in Unit 8 of the Raichur Thermal Power Station has put the technical staff in trouble. The ESP had collapsed on Sunday affecting power generation.
Unit 8 with 250 MW capacity was built by BHEL. It was plagued by technical snags and till date it has not been dedicated to the nation.
Even so, RTPS authorities attempted to generate power. It is said that BHEL had warned of technical problems in the ESP of Unit 8 and urged the authorities to hand it over for major repairs. But RTPS was not in a position to hand it over due to the increasing demand for power.
There were no causalities in the ESP mishap as there were no workers at the time.
Sources said that it would take at least two years to reconstruct the damaged ESP. Thus power generation cannot be expected from this unit and only the remaining seven units can generate power.
Sources said that the Karnataka Power Corporation and BHEL officials are blaming each other for the incident.
KPC officials blamed BHEL for not maintaining the quality of the work by allowing sub-contractors illegally to carry out the work.
BHEL officials blamed KPC for not allowing them to undertake repairs. The apathy of BHEL was the main reason for the mishap, they said. Sources said that though RTPS had faced many problems since 2010 in Unit 8, this has so far been the biggest mishap.