The ash flying from the ash drum of the thermal power project has also become a layer on the lives of the residents of the nearby villages of Kasimpur thermal power station.
This ash is entering even the rooms inside the houses in the villages. More than 75% people of the village are in the grip of dangerous diseases like bronchitis, TB, asthma and cancer, cause being the coal ash that is reaching these villages.
This has made the air pollution to reach a dangerous level. The villagers have complaint to project manager and administration but no action was taken in this matter. Disappointed with this, the villagers have now knocked on the door of National Green Tribunal (NGT). It may be recalled that a big thermal power plant is established in Kasimpur town, 13 km away from Aligarh. There are 9 units working here. It's furnace are run by coal and electricity is produced by coal. 1000 tons of coal is utilised to produce electricity which in turn produce a huge amount of ash that fly along with winds to nearby villages causing respiratory damage to the villagers.
Also there is no treatment plant for this ash in the thermal power project. The ash produced is very thin and get accumulated in the lungs as soon as it is inhaled.
The thermal project is flowing through pipes from Kasimpur power house along with water to ash drums built near village Nagola. From here the water is filtered and going through pipes into the Ganges Canal and piles of ash keep accumulating in the ground.
As soon as it dries, this ash is flying with a little wind and is reaching the streets of nearby villages like Nagola and Rampur and the rooms inside the houses. According to the villagers, one to two inches of ash gets accumulated in the luggage every day in the houses. This ash is also being found in front of food and drink. At the same time, there is trouble in breathing due to the ashes.
Ramvir singh of village Nagola told that due to flying ash reaching the soil of the fields, the crop gets ruined. Due to this, food grains are not being produced in the fields. In protest against this, since May 21, the residents of the village have been protesting at the Shiva temple located near Ash Drum.
Their demand is to get rid of the ashes and 24 hours electricity in the village, but till now no official associated with the project has even contacted them. At the same time, these villagers are very angry due to non-availability of public representatives.
An attempt was made to speak to the General Manager of the thermal project Sunil Kumar Singh over phone but he did not receive the call. Since no action has been taken on our conplaints, we have now filed petition in National Green Tribunal (NGT).
Tejprakash Giri, former head of village Nagoula told that he has been suffering from acute bronchitis (respiratory tract disease characterized by persistent cough) since the outbreak of ash started about 15 years ago. He got treatment from private doctors including CHC but there was no improvement due to the ashes. Harprasad, Rural, Nagola said that earlier he was completely healthy. Due to flying ash in the fields, villages, he is now suffering from respiratory disease for almost three years.
Along with the CHC, a lot of treatment has been done by private doctors, but the medicines are not working. Netrapal Singh, Nagola told that I had typhoid about two years ago. On examination at the Community Health Center, the doctor told i am suffering from TB disease.
Since then the treatment of TB is going on in the CHC. Till now this disease has not been completely cured.
Hariom Giri, Nagoula told that due to the accumulation of ash in the lungs, I got TB and respiratory disease.
Testing at the Community Health Center revealed TB disease. After getting a lot of treatment, relief is being felt from the disease of TB, but even today there is trouble in breathing.
Doctor. Ankit Singh, Superintendent, CHC Jawan told that this ash is so fine that it goes inside the body as soon as it is inhaled and gets deposited in the lungs. This leads to dangerous diseases like asthma, high blood pressure, tuberculosis, bronchitis, emphysema, cystic fibrosis, ARDS. Newborns are at greatest risk.
