While the smoke emitted by the chimneys of Badarpur Power Plant is a serious concern, the open dumping of the fly ash generated by the plant at a nearby site spanning over 750 acres is an even greater threat to the environment, said environmentalist Sunita Narain. A study by IIT Kanpur had also pointed out the presence of highly dangerous fly ash in Delhi air.
“Till now we were worried about the emissions coming out of the two chimneys of the Badarpur Power Plant. That is not what concerns us. What concerns us is the fly ash dumping site of the Badarpur plant which spans 767 acres - an open dumping site. Our attention was drawn to this when we saw the IIT Kanpur report which mentioned that in Delhi air, they found fly ash. We were surprised as to why would there be fly ash in air of Delhi,” Sunita Narain said.
She said it was then that the Centre of Science and Environment (CSE) started looking at the size of the power plant and the size of the dumping ground. “The picture that comes out is shocking. It is 767 acres. This is real estate land standing at the centre of Delhi today and it is lying only as an open fly ash dump,” she said.
The CSE has given a report to the court asking for the closure of the plant and Union Government has asked for time to respond, she said. EPCA position is that Delhi should switch to 1500 MW state-of-the-art Bawana Natural Gas Plant and not use Badarpur Power Plant in the future.