Why Jhabua power plant is unable to eliminate 'dangerous' fly ash reserves

By Deepmala Patel* 
Avantha Power and Infrastructure had promised to provide employment to the people living in the area when the Jhabua power plant was commissioned. Although it is currently owned by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), this power plant which promised development in the area is wreaking havoc. The toxic ash coming out of the Jhabua power plant has been illegally dumped in the fields of tribal farmers of Gorakhpur, Barela, Umarpani and Bineki of Ghansor development block of Seoni district of Madhya Pradesh for more than two years. Despite all the complaints, the dangerous ash is destroying the farmers’ fields and their crops.
Last year, NTPC had signed a written contract to dump ash on the land of farmers of Khud and Khutatal villages, but the matter of dumping ash on the farmers’ fields did not stop here. In 2022, the power plant management again signed another contract with some farmers of Umarpani village and the work of removing gravel and soil from their fields and filling the ash there was done till June 2023. 

This deadline was extended by the management till June 2024, but this year the ash is being dumped in the fields of the farmers of Umarpani, Bhattekhari and Rajgarhi villages without making an agreement with them. The management is dumping the poisonous ash coming out of the plant in the fields of 20–22 farmers of these villages. For this, the farmers protested by staging a dharna in front of the Sub Divisional Magistrate, but no action was taken. Other farmers of the tribal community of the area are upset that this dangerous ash will be suddenly filled in their fertile fields without any information. 

If remedial measures are not taken soon on this problem, then this poisonous ash will flow into the rivers, drains, ponds and nearby fields in the coming rainy season and contaminate them. Scientists of the State Pollution Control Board and environmental experts are constantly expressing concern that if the fly ash stock is not disposed of safely, then the danger to the environment will increase further. This ash, along with poisoning the water and environment, can also spread diseases like TB, asthma, lung infection, skin diseases and cancer among the people living here.
According to a report by Raj News Network, Bhavna Malgamat Tehsildar Ghansor said that the Naib Tehsildar has investigated the ash being dumped by Jhabua Thermal Power Plant in Umarpani and the investigation report has been submitted to the SDM. The SDM has also given the full report to the District Mining Officer, but no proper action has been taken on it till date. The local community is bearing the brunt of the indifference of the local administration.

Why was the Environmental Clearance changed

Initially, the Environmental Clearance stated that ‘no tribal land will be acquired for the power plant’ which was later removed by the Ministry’s corrigendum dated 22.12.2010. This is a convenient way to favour industries over people. The result is that today this ash is being dumped anywhere in the area. While the ash pond of the power plant is spread over 56.4 hectares, now the question arises that why is the management choosing the fertile land of tribal farmers for dumping the ash.
According to a report published in People’s Newspaper, Jhabua Thermal Power Plant has been violating the conditions of environmental clearance granted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests by storing ash for the last several years. The flying of this ash is adversely affecting the health of the nearby residents. 

In Madhya Pradesh, ash produced from 13 power plants is 15.1695 million tonnes. If this 5.5505 million tonnes i.e. 36.59% is being used

According to the local people, ever since the Jhabua Thermal Power Plant has been established in this area, the environmental balance of this area has been disturbed. Due to the flying of ash all around, the temperature of the area is also increasing. 

The dirty water of the power plant is being released into the local Godi drain adjacent to the power plant area and this drain is joining the Narmada River through the Pariyat drain, due to which the chemical-laden water of contaminated fly ash is getting mixed in the Narmada River. Drinking the contaminated water of this drain is adversely impacting the health of animals.

Ash management status

The assessment of the ash production and use status of the first half of the year 2022-23 released by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has been done on the basis of data received from thermal power stations. So it was found that in this report, in the status of 2022-23, 142.0653 million tonnes of ash is produced from 175 thermal power plants with a capacity of 20,5623.00 MW across the country. The central government claims that out of this, 111.6124 million tonnes of ash is being used. That is, 78.14 percent, which has been used much less than last year 2021-22. Talking about Madhya Pradesh, the ash produced from 13 power plants is 15.1695 million tonnes, but out of this only 5.5505 million tonnes i.e. 36.59% is being used. Whereas in Jhabua Thermal Power Plant having capacity of 600 MW, only 0.2470 million tons of ash has been used out of 0.5837 million tons, only 42.31 percent of the ash is being used.
Whereas according to the Ash Utilisation Notification 2021, there was a condition to use 100% of the ash generated from the power plant. Is the ash of the power plant being dumped in the fields of poor, tribal farmers to fulfil this condition? Despite lakhs of complaints by the local community to the administration and power plant management, the irresponsible behaviour of the administration is endangering the lives and means of employment of these tribal communities. Today, many questions are being raised on this silence of the administration.
---
*Source: Centre for Financial Accountability