In a first, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has prepared the draft guidelines for the decommissioning of thermal power plants. Currently, India does not have any specific guidelines or protocols for scientific decommissioning of thermal power plants and the remediation of their sites.
The guidelines, titled ‘Environmental Guidelines for Decommissioning a Coal/Lignite-Fired Power Plant’, were framed following the directions of the Southern Bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT), according to sources.
Power companies, prior to initiating decommissioning process, will be mandated to prepare an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) while going through several stages of approvals. The draft guidelines document details about how hazardous toxic materials like asbestos-containing material (ACM) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) should be dealt with.
Dharmesh Shah, a petitioner in the case, told Express that power companies have a responsibility to safely dispose of hazardous and other wastes generated by them. “However, there is no statutory framework on the steps to be taken after a thermal power plant is decommissioned. Currently, there is no accountability. Remediation of site should be an integral part of decommissioning of such plans,” he said.
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