By IANS,
Raipur : A Chhattisgarh lawmaker Monday accused public sector National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) of dumping fly ash in state’s Hasdeo river even as Industry Minister Rajesh Munat denied the charge.
Raising the issue in the assembly through a call attention notice, Bahujan Samaj Party member Saurabh Singh alleged that NTPC management, despite repeated notices from the district administration and state pollution control board, was not ready to mend their ways.
“Due to the dumping of ash, depth of the downstream river bed between Darri Dam and behind Sarveshwar Temple has been reduced to five to six feet while during winter season, it usually remains 20-25 feet deep,” Singh alleged
“When people lodge any complaint, the pollution department issues a customary notice to the NTPC,” he said.
Denying the allegation, Munat, who also holds charge of housing and environment, said that Chhattisgarh Pollution Control board has instructed NTPC to reuse the polluted water released from fly ash after its treatment and the directive is followed by the PSU.
Regarding the release of oily and polluted water into Hasdeo river, Munat told the house that the NTPC management has laid a pipeline below the river bed for releasing rain water, and it is not used to release oily and polluted water into the Hasdeo.