MoEF Comm defers environment clearance to Yadadri Power proj

The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) under the Ministry of Environment has deferred its decision for granting environmental clearance for the 8,000 MW Yadadri Thermal Power Station in Telangana by TSGENCO due to a "lackadaisical" approach in preparing documentation.

The EAC said the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report was incomplete and there was lack of clarity on many issues raised by the Committee earlier.

"The EIA report as well as subsequent responses by Project Proponent (PP) indicate substantial confusion and lack of details regarding actual coal unloading and transportation arrangements," EAC has said in the minutes of the meeting held last month.
 

"At some places, it is mentioned that coal will be transported from two ports and in some other places, four ports are mentioned. Hence, complete and specific details regarding coal import ports and coal transportation routes need to be provided," it said.

Telangana State Power Generation Corporation Ltd (TSGENCO) officials were unavailable for comments.

TSGENCO is in the process of setting up a 5x800 MW Super Critical Coal Based power plant to meet the power requirement in Nalgonda.

The EAC observed that the EIA report is mostly of a "copy-paste" job and lacks clarity on several issues.

Further it is also observed that two important sections of the EIA report- "risk assessment" and "disaster management plan"- are almost entirely generic and contain hardly any site or project specific aspects.

"Based on above observations, it is amply clear that several parts of the EIA/EMP have been prepared simply based on copy-paste approach, without application of mind and considerations of site specific factors for crucial aspects such as risk assessment and disaster management," the EAC observed.

"Above is a representative and not exhaustive list, indicating a casual approach towards the preparation of the EIA report on the project proponent's part. So, in light of the allegations of significant plagiarism and above mentioned observations, the MoEFCC may take necessary action on the relevant stakeholders," it suggested.

The EAC has asked TSGENCO to provide proper and detailed response along with an action plan in respect of queries raised during the public hearing along with CSR budgetary details provided during the stage of commissioning of the project.