TALCHER: The agitation at Talcher Coalfield has plunged the 3,000 MW NTPC Kaniha power plant into a grave crisis as three of its 500 MW units have been shut down due to the shortage of coal.
Power supply to the consuming States has been drastically curtailed owing to the shutdown. Power production at the plant has declined to 1,000 MW per day against the normal of 3,000 MW. NTPC sources said power supply to Odisha too has been hit due to the shutdown. An NTPC official said due to the agitation, coal production and supply have come to a halt and the power plant has only 50,000-tonne coal in its stock.
The plant needs 55,000-tonne coal daily to run all its six units. The official said efforts are on to procure coal from other Coal India Limited subsidiaries and Singareni Coalfield to run the three units, which are still operational.
The agitation has also affected power plants of GMR, JSPL and JITPL. Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) CMD B N Shukla said distress calls were received from several power stations which are grappling with acute shortage of coal. He said MCL had arranged four rakes of coal from Ib Valley of which three were meant for NTPC Kaniha and one for Nalco’s power plant. Shukla said efforts are on to end the stir by initiating dialogue with the agitators.
The local BJP unit, led by party’s State secretary Kalandi Samal, has been on agitation since four persons died in a mishap at Bharatpur coalmine of MCL a few days ago. The agitation has led to closure of all nine coal mines in Talcher. MCL offices too have stopped functioning due to the agitation. The party has been demanding that the district administration should certify safety measures in the coal mines, a compensation policy for accident victims and a high-level investigation into the mishap. Meanwhile, Angul Collector Manoj Kumar Mohanty said efforts are on to end the agitation.