VIJAYAWADA: A National Green Tribunal-constituted joint committee has submitted its interim report on the Simhadri Super Thermal Power Plant Project, NTPC, reportedly citing certain shortcomings. The panel was set up on November 23, 2021 after Battu Satish Reddy, a resident of Pattivanipale village in Visakhapatnam district, complained of non-compliance of conditions that have to be adhered to for environmental clearance.
The committee, comprising Visakhapatnam district collector, and senior officials from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Central Pollution Control Board and AP Pollution Control Board interacted with the villagers of Pittalavanipalem, Devada and Marada Dasaripeta. The villagers explained the issues they have been facing due to the power plant’s noncompliance with conditions.
In its interim report, the committee pointed out that a detailed implementation status of the rehabilitation master plan for rehabilitation of 150 families, compensation package, training facility, etc., were not submitted. The industry has not installed adequate high-pressure mist spray sprinklers at coal storage yards to control fugitive emissions effectively and they have provided only a few, insufficient mechanical water sprinklers.
Further, the project lacked a mechanism for the continuous monitoring of groundwater by establishing a network of observation wells. It had not submitted the results, data and findings to ascertain the water quality. Additionally, it had not carried out leachate collection through lysimeters at six to 10 locations around the ash dyke.