Thermal plant makes life hell for Khukhrana villagers
Manish Sirhindi
Tribune News Service

Khukhrana (Panipat), July 11
Even as the Panipat thermal power plant has been contributing its bit to the overall development of the state by providing the much needed electricity, residents of this dusty little village have been paying a heavy price for it.

Thanks to the constant pollution being caused by the plant, there is hardly a household here where one or more persons are not suffering from problems like asthma, tuberculosis and other related respiratory diseases. It is believed that the polluting power plant has also contaminated the water in the area which has lead to various skin diseases among people.

The constant ash being emitted from the plant has almost given the entire village a pasty white look.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed the Haryana government to shift the entire village to some pollution-free area after the local residents had filed a petition in the court in 2007. Though the local administration initiated a move to acquire 55 acres near Sodhapur village in the district for the purpose, it got caught in a legal tangle when the owner of the land moved the court and got a stay against the acquisition.

For over a decade, after it was set up here in 1979, the plant had been a source of pride for the local residents. But now it has turned into a pollution-emitting monster with a total of eight units consuming over 22,500 tonnes of coal each day. According to experts, about 35 per cent of the total coal burnt at the plant gets converted into ash. The plant authorities used to sprinkle water on the ash which was an effective way of keeping the pollutants in control. But with the more and more ash being generated here each day, it almost became impossible for the authorities to tame the ashes.

Residents of the village told this correspondent that the problem here was so acute that some of them, who could afford, had already left the village and settled in Karnal or other pollution-free places in the state.

Besides ash, fine dust produced by crushing of coal has also caused extensive pollution in the area.

Sohan Lal, president of the Khukhrana Sudhar Samiti, which had moved the High Court in 2007, said there was no relief in sight for them. Villagers had even boycotted the recently held panchayat elections in order to register their protest and no one from here filed nomination papers.