Fly ash fiasco: Another disaster in making in Nandgaon

 

 

 

The fly ash menace is once again going to haunt residents of Koradi and Nagpur as another disastrous fly ash dumping area is in the making in Nandgaon. After getting permission from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) for dumping fly ash in Nandgaon and Bakhari villages as the Waregaon dumping yard is full to its limit, the Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited (MahaGenco) has started unscientific dumping of fly ash in open lands without following the guidelines of environment norms to avoid pollution. Centre For Sustainable Development (CFSD), a Nagpur based pro-environment organisation, raised objection over the unscientific dumping of fly ash in open lands before MPCB and Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change. The land acquisition of Nandgaon and Bakhari villages by MahaGenco took place in 1986 and till date, no activity was carried out on these lands. Farmers of Bakhari village gave NOC for their lands to MahaGenco without any objection as those lands were not fertile.

 

Whereas, the land acquired in Nandgaon is fertile and villagers are doing farming every year as MahaGenco was not doing any dumping activity in Nandgaon since 1986. Now, the Waregaon ash bund is full and for dumping new fly ash in these villages, MahaGenco got permission from MPCB. Whereas MahaGenco, without following the scientific way, started dumping fly ash slurry in Nandgaon which is very close to fertile agriculture lands and also just 100 mts away from Pench River.

 

“After experiencing Waregaon and Khasala ash bund collapse in last 3-4 years, MahaGenco is staring at another disaster once again which is going to damage crops and pollute water and land in near future. Dumping fly ash in unscientific way in open lands is a crime and regulatory authorities should take action against such act,” Leena Buddhe, Director, CFSD told ‘The Hitavada’. “Making of lagoons and layering of High-density polyethylene (HDPE) inside it are must before dumping fly ash.

 

However, MahaGenco is dumping the ash slurry without following the norms and it is going to be another major disaster soon,” said Buddhe. When asked about action on MahaGenco regarding this illegal activity in Nandgaon, Hema Deshpande, Regional Director, MPCB said, “We issued a show cause notice to MahaGenco for such activity and for further action, we have sent proposal to head office in Pune.” In last few years, flooding of fly ash slurry in agriculture fields and water bodies caused huge environmental damage and the affected villagers are still struggling to get their life back to normalcy due to this menace. During monsoon season, such activities can also hamper water supply for days in Nagpur city. Despite all these repeated disasters, MahaGenco is creating another disaster which should be stopped before monsoon sets in.