Study estimates air pollution from CSTPS claimed 280 in State

 

 

Air pollution from the operation of units at Chandrapur Super Thermal Power Station (CSTPS) has claimed 280 premature lives in the State in 2020, estimated a study conducted by Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). A recent comprehensive air pollution health impact study conducted by CREA titled ‘Health Impact of Chandrapur coal-based power plant, Maharashtra’, revealed that the air pollution from CSTPS has resulted in premature deaths at many places of Central India.

 

As per the findings of the study, 85 premature deaths were in Chandrapur, 62 in Nagpur, 45 in Yavatmal, 30 in Mumbai, while 29 premature deaths in Pune and Nanded each took place in 2020 which has been the worst impacted due to CSTPS. This 2920 MW coal-based power station in Chandrapur left significant health impacts from air pollution for the people of all these cities in recent years. CREA’s study is an independent assessment that has come against the backdrop of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) observing clear violations of air quality and other norms by the CSTPS in its recent order from January 2022. Among several other directions, the NGT had directed a health impact assessment study to assess the damage caused by the power station. Air pollution from coal-fired power plants not only impacts people in its immediate vicinity but also those living far away.

 

The concentration levels put everyone at risk, especially vulnerable citizens such as children, elderly and pregnant women. “The health of an entire population cannot be compromised because of apathy from the power companies like Maharashtra State Power Generation Company (MahaGenco), there must be strict actions taken on the polluters to ensure compliance and pollution reduction,” said Sunil Dahiya, an analyst at CREA and one of the authors of the report. Findings showed that the effects of ambient air pollution coming from CSTPS resulted in respiratory among other health illnesses, which led to 34,000 sick leave days in Chandrapur and 30,000 days of absenteeism in Nagpur in 2020. “This shows how the productivity of people from these two cities is being compromised due to the impact of thermal power plant emissions,” said Dahiya. In this study, air pollution impacts from the CSTPS were observed over hundreds of kilometres impacting cities like Nanded, Pune and Mumbai among other cities. The operation of the CSTPS in 2020 alone contributed to more than eight lakh sick leave days, approximately 1,900 asthma emergency room visits of which over 800 were children, deaths of at least 1,300 people, and 1,800 premature births across Central India.

 

“Only about 2 per cent of coal-fired power plants in the country adhere to the norms set by the Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change in 2015. MahaGenco is one of the notorious ones with respect to lack of compliance with pollution norms,” claimed Dahiya. The study also found that installing Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) technology to reduce pollutants from power plants will reduce SO2 emissions by 92 per cent at units number five to nine. “This would have also prevented economic losses (due to welfare loss cost and health burden) of more than Rs 1,650 crore per year (in 2020),” the author added. The operation at CSTPS resulted in the emission of high pollutant load: 4,724 tonnes of particulate matter emissions, 1,03,010 tons of sulphur dioxide (SO2), 28,417 tons of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and 1,322 kgs of mercury in 2020. “The report recommends that the older units (Units 3 and 4) of CSTPS must be shut down, and the remaining operational units should be fitted with FGDs to capture SO2 emissions to prevent avoidable impacts on the region’s health and economy,” the study suggested.