Public hearing on Rs.4,000-cr. Power Plant held in Tuticorin

The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, on 29th September, conducted a public hearing on the two 500 MW power plants to be established by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) here on an outlay of Rs. 4,000 crore.

The meeting chaired by the Collector, R. Palaniyandi, elicited the views of local people on the proposed project. Explaining the salient features of the project and its benefits to the public, R. Ganapathy Sankaran, Superintending Engineer (Project and Environment), TNEB, said that the plants would help bridge the gap between the demand and supply of power in the State.

The plants would come up on 130 hectares of land near the existing 2 X 1,050 MW Tuticorin Thermal Power Station.

Of the total area, 80 hectares would be utilised for the establishment of main plants, cool water pipe line, conveyor belt for carrying coal and housing colony for employees. The remaining area would be used to set up an ash dyke for the disposal of wet slurry.

The coal requirement for the project was computed as 5.6 million tonne per annum, considering 6,000 hours of operation.

Answering the environmental concerns raised during the hearing, N. Sasikumar, Executive Director (Projects), TNEB, said that of the total project cost, about Rs. 400 crore was earmarked for pollution control.

He assured that fly ash generated would not be disposed into the sea; rather the eject (fly ash) would be supplied to construction industry.

He said that high efficiency precipitators would be used to reduce the emission of suspended particulate matter (SPM). To bring down air pollution arising from sulphur dioxide, coal with low sulphur content (0.4 percent) would be used. The generators and turbines used inside the plant would be fitted with silencers to reduce noise pollution.

Mr Sasikumar said that employment opportunities for local people, and health and educational facilities in the area would be improved by the commissioning of the project.

Minister for Animal Husbandry P. Geetha Jeevan and District Environment Engineer of TNPCB S. Shanmugasundaram were present.