On 15 May 2015, the Government of India came out with a draft notification
on emission standards for coal based thermal power plants, opening it
up for public comments. Till the time, there had been no specific
emission standards for thermal power plants, except in respect of
Particulate Matters which was also very high when compared to global
standards.
There has been a series of publications in recent years by civil society groups like Greenpeace, Urban Emissions, Centre for Science and Environment
on thermal power plants which have made headlines in India. Some of
the country’s premier engineering institutes have also came out with an
extensive review on atmospheric pollution from coal based thermal power
plants in India, such as this from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi in May 2014.
Raichur Coal based Thermal Power Plant. Pic: Tanzeel Ahad
A simple Google search on the health
impact of thermal power plants in India will yield millions of results. A
recent scientific publication in a highly rated open source journal PNAS
showed how the per- hectare yield of rice and wheat have decreased over
the last decade owing to the increasing concentration of aerosols
produced as secondary pollution from thermal power plants. The problem
was grave and pressure from civil society as well as attention from
research institutes made it imperative for the Government of India to
come out with the first ever draft notification on specific emission
standards for coal-based thermal power plant.
The Centre for Science and Environment
which recently published the green ratings of thermal power plants in
India has welcomed the move of the Government and expressed satisfaction
with the new norms proposed. “We believe these lower standards are
acceptable given technical and economic limitations in installing
pollution control equipment in older units” said Priyavrat Bhati, CSE’s
Director for Green Ratings Project through the official press release.
The Narendra Modi-led government has been much criticised for diluting the environmental law
of the country in order to accelerate industrialisation and the
compliments for the draft standards make one curious to explore if it is
indeed going to be effective in reducing emissions and providing
cleaner air................................................................................