Thermal plants a pollution worry

Produce more particulate matter, sulphur dioxide than stubble burning, shows analysis

- JITENDRA CHOUBEY

EMISSIONS from Delhi-NCR-based 12 coal-fired power plants are more deadly than the emissions from the burning of paddy straw in Punjab and Haryana. Thermal power plants (TPPs) produce multiple times more dangerous particulate matter and Sulphur Dioxide(SO2) than burning agri-residue does.

According to a new analysis of sources of deadlier particulate matter and a comparison between NCR-based TPPs emissions and paddy straw burning emissions in Punjab and Haryana highlights the scale of SO2 pollution.

Thermal power plants in NCR emit 281 kilotonnes of SO2 annually—16 times more than the 17.8 kilotonnes emitted by burning 8.9 million tonnes of paddy straw.

Notably, crop residue burning causes a seasonal spike in Delhi-NCR pollution; however, the TPPs cause persistent year-round pollution. It underlines a lopsided action against farmers while TPPs get free-wheeling leniency.

There are 11 coal-based TPPs within a 300 km radius of Delhi and one outside—Goindwal Sahib Power Plant in Punjab—which is also considered while making decisions about TPPs.