MahaGenco’s negligence and failure in stopping the overflow of fly ash slurry from Waregaon ash bund after the recent heavy rains caused damage to the surrounding agricultural land. Sarpanch of Waregaon village raised the matter during the meeting of Environment Monitoring Committee that took place at Khaperkheda TPS on Friday. The meeting was chaired by R S Ghuge, Chief Engineer, Khaperkheda TPS. Crops of 11 farmers were damaged. However, MahaGenco denied this claim during the meeting. Tehsildar will conduct a panchanama on October 17. Members of the Monitoring Committee have urged MahaGenco officials to remain present. “During a meeting on Friday, MahaGenco officials denied the claim of the Sarpanch.

 

They refused to pay any compensation to farmers,” said Leena Buddhe, Director, Centre for Sustainable Development (CFSD). As a corrective measure, MahaGenco will raise the height of Waregaon ash bund soon. MahaGenco also assured that such incident will not be repeated in future. MahaGenco has also informed that new pipeline is been replaced phase wise. The areas where the leakage is more will be addressed on a priority basis. Sarpanch of Suradevi informed that continuous discharge of fly ash slurry through a leakage in pipeline is causing water pollution in a nullah which connects to Kolar river. About 3 km stretch of the nullah is polluted. The Sarpanch urged MahaGenco to clean the stretch as early as possible. The meeting was attended by officials of MahaGenco, representatives of CFSD and sarpanchs of affected villages.