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Thermal plant pollution to be controlled by 2022- Govt to SC

NEW DELHI: Pollutant spewing coal-based thermal power plants, indispensable because they account for 60% of India’s electricity production, will conform to emission standards by 2022, the Centre informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The ministry of environment, forests and climate change gave this assurance in an affidavit before a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta even as amicus curiae Aparajita Singh pointed out the Centre had fixed emission norms for thermal power plants way back in December 2015 with a deadline of December 2017 for its implementation.

The ministry admitted there was a delay and informed the court an action plan for implementation of emission norms for thermal plants, which are major contributors in polluting ambient air quality, had been finalised.

“An action plan submitted by ministry of power estimating a time period of seven years, that is up to 2024, for compliance of the emission standards was observed to be too long and accordingly, after several rounds of discussion, the ministry decided to commence implementation from 2018 and to complete it by 2022 with respect to all pollutants emitted by thermal power plants,” it said.

“This is on the basis of necessary retrofitting and technological upgradation to meet new norms, which would require shutdown of a plant for four to six months for each unit. 

Accordingly, plant-wise action plan has been prepared and finalised keeping in mind techno-economic feasibility,” it said.

Thermal power plants were found to be a major source of air pollution as far back as 1984, when ministry of environment had laid down emission standards.