HYDERABAD: Telangana government will have to file a compliance report by end of 2018 on whether Hyderabad’s construction companies and infrastructure development projects are complying with the Ministry of Environment (MoEF) rules on utilisation of fly ash generated by thermal power plants in the State, as per a new direction issued by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to all states.
The utilisation of fly ash generated by thermal power plants in Telangana is one of the lowest among all the states in the country. As per the fly ash generation and utilisation report published this year for the first half of 2017-18 by Central Electricity Authority, five thermal power plants of TSGENCO generated about 2.89 million tonnes of fly ash, of which only 0.95 million tonnes was utilised, which accounts for just about 33 per cent utilisation of fly ash. The fly ash utilisation for 2016-17 was also about the same.
The MoEF had made it mandatory in 2016 that all roads, flyover projects and construction agencies, private or public, located within 300 kilometres from a coal-based thermal power plant should use only fly ash-based products for construction.
Hyderabad and many other small cities and towns like Warangal are located within 300 km from the TSGENCO thermal power plants located in Kothagudem and Bhupalpally. Moreover, Hyderabad is also home to a large number of real estate and infrastructure development projects.
Apart from this, MoEF rules on fly ash utilisation also listed out various other mandatory provisions like 25 per cent fly ash utilisation in the manufacturing of bricks in all brick kilns in 100 km radius from the thermal power plants and reclamation of low lying areas within 300 km from thermal power plants using only fly ash.
However, despite various measures prescribed by MoEF, the low utilisation of fly ash from coal-fired power plants in Telangana raises the question of how strictly the rules are being complied within the State.
The CPCB in its direction issued this month to all state Pollution Control Boards (PCB), including Telangana State PCB asked for compliance report by December 31.