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    River expert files report on Chandrabhaga River to NGT

    Synopsis

    A report filed by river expert Kalyan Rudra to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) pointed to 'total extinction of biodiversity' in the Chandrabhaga River in Birbhum due to dumping of flyash from the Bakreswar Thermal Power Project (BKTPP).

    KOLKATA: A report filed by river expert Kalyan Rudra to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) pointed to 'total extinction of biodiversity' in the Chandrabhaga River in Birbhum due to dumping of flyash from the Bakreswar Thermal Power Project (BKTPP). According to him, the water is whitish-grey in colour and physical and chemical properties of the river have deteriorated drastically.

    "The pollution load due to the ash-pond overflow was found alarmingly high. No sign of aquatic life could be witnessed during the day of inspection in a stretch of approximately 11 km from the place of ash-pond overflow discharge in the river. The water is not even fit for bathing," Rudra noted after visit to the river and discussions held with villagers.

    The Chandrabhaga and Bakreswar Rivers are two important tributaries within the Mayurakshi basin. Green activist Subhas Datta had moved a petition before the NGT Eastern Zone Bench, pointing to the harm caused to these rivers due to overflow from the fly-ash pond of BKTPP. The bench had in turn sought a report from Rudra on January 22 this year.

    "BKTPP authority reported that the supply of coal that they get often has more than 40% ash content. Use of such coal generates more ash and the flyash pond gets filled up faster. The capacity of BKTPP was 630 MW in 2000. This rose to 1,050 MW in 2008. This expansion required more capacity of the flyash pond. Power generation was initiated without installation of additional ash ponds due to non-availability of land as reported by BKTPP authority.

    Excavation from the pond remained suspended between June 2014 and November 2014. This resulted in huge ash pond overflow that contaminated the Chandrabhaga River," the report states.

    It has been calculated by Rudra that the amount of fly ash that needs to be removed from the river bed is nearly 200,000 cubic metres.



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