BENGALURU: It is not just the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) which is keeping a close watch on its Yelahanka gas-based power plant, which witnessed a blast early on Friday, but even the locals. An experts’ committee, comprising officials from KPCL, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) and General Electric (GE), is being constituted to investigate the mishap.
While the officials are waiting for a report to buttress their claim that it was a freak accident, locals want the plant shut down for good. Members of the Yelahanka Puttenahalli Lake and Bird Conservation Trust have already filed an interlocutory application before the National Green Tribunal, and hope that the probe report will strengthen their case.
On October 2, the 370 MW gas-based power plant was supposed to start production of about 20-30 MW when there was a blast in a turbine around 3.30 am which left 15 engineers with burns. Following the incident, the plant has been shut indefinitely.
K C Venugopal, Technical Director of KPCL, told The New Indian Express that the plant has been closed down at the moment. An expert team, comprising KPCL, BHEL and GE official, will visit the site. On Saturday, a team of BHEL officials had already visited the site. The expert team is likely to visit the plant on Monday or Tuesday, after which a report on the exact cause that led to the accident will be submitted, he said.
Meanwhile, the residents around the 370 MW plant are keeping a close watch on the site and making notes to submit before the National Green Tribunal and other legal forums. “The plant should not be at its present location as it is dangerous. It poses a lot of health hazards and the fire incident is only proof of that. Cases are already being heard by the NGT regarding environmental clearances, but now we are also planning to move the High Court citing safety reasons,” said a resident of Yelahanka. Meanwhile, the Yelahanka police have said they will not be carrying out any probe as a case had already been filed terming it as an accident.