GUWAHATI: The National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) Bongaigaon has begun commercial pond ash evacuation, a milestone and a first of its kind for the power station.
An ash pond, also called a coal ash basin or surface impoundment, is a structure that is built at coal-fired power plants to get rid of bottom ash and fly ash, which are byproducts of burning coal.
The pond is used as a garbage dump so that ash doesn't get into the air. Even though ash ponds and other pollution controls reduce the amount of pollution in the air, the structures pose major health risks to the surrounding environment.
The trail pond ash evacuation was previously completed successfully in December 2022 when M/s MSTC auctioned off 3 lakh metric tonnes of pond ash for the Bongaigaon station, as per media reports.
The provided amount was fully auctioned in February 2023 for a term of one year at a price of ₹64-68.00 PMT.
Pond ash evacuation has long been a difficult goal for the station. Karunakar Das, CGM, NTPC Bongaigaon, and the environmental monitoring group have been working hard to meet this goal since its start, as per media reports.
Before the evacuation began, the pond ash lifters were given a safety lesson on bulk material handling and road safety.
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