86 power plants have 25 pc less coal stocks than normative levels: CEA report
New Delhi (PTI): As many as 86 thermal power plants in the country, including six imported dry fuel-based, had critical coal stock levels as of October 18, according to a Central Electricity Authority (CEA) report.
The power plants are labelled as having a critical coal stock situation, where the dry fuel is less than 25 per cent of the normative level.
According to the daily coal report of the CEA for October 18, 2023, as many as 86 thermal power plants were having critical coal stock situations out of the monitored 181 in the country.
There were six imported coal-based plants out of these 86 plants.
CEA monitors 181 coal-based thermal power plants in the country with a total installed generation capacity of 206 GW.
As per the report, 148 non-pithead domestic coal-based power plants with a total capacity of about 149 GW had 29 per cent less dry fuel stocks than the normative (or ideal) levels.
These 148 plants had about 12.77 million tonnes of coal against the normative level of 43.53 million tonnes as of October 18, 2023.
However, the situation was better at 18 domestic pithead plants where dry fuel stock was 81 per cent of the normative levels.
These 18 plants have a total power generation capacity of about 40 GW.
The experts are of the view that generally the dry fuel stock situation is not often critical at pithead plants as these are located near coal mines.
The non-pithead plants are those where the dry fuel is transported from far-flung places where coal mines are located.
The overall dry fuel stock situation was also better at 15 imported coal-based power plants monitored by the CEA, where stocks were 52 per cent of the normative levels.
These 15 imported coal-based plants have a total generation capacity of 17 GW.
The report showed that these 181 power plants with a total capacity of about 206 GW had coal stocks of 20.43 million tonnes (38 per cent of the ideal level) against the normative level of 54.31 million tonnes.
The report also showed that the daily fuel requirement of these 181 plants is 2.8 million tonnes.
Thus, they have coal stocks to last a little over seven days as of October 18, 2023.
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Police refused to file FIR in Baramati plane crash; our suspicion growing stronger, says Rohit Pawar
Mumbai (PTI): NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Wednesday claimed that the Mumbai police refused to file an FIR in connection with the plane crash, in which Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was killed, and said the refusal has deepened the suspicion surrounding the accident.
The government and the machinery appeared to be protecting someone, he alleged.
Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday directed the grounding of four aircraft of VSR Ventures, whose plane crashed at Baramati on January 28, killing Ajit Pawar and four others.
Following the crash of the Learjet 45 aircraft (VT-SSK), the aviation regulator had ordered a special safety audit of VSR Ventures, and the audit team observed several non-compliances of approved procedures in the area of airworthiness, air safety, and flight operations.
In a message posted on a social media platform, Rohit Pawar claimed, "While awaiting appropriate action regarding Ajitdada's plane crash, yesterday the DGCA report arrived stating that this accident was caused by the negligence of VSR company."
However, since no FIR has been filed in this regard, he along with party MLC Amol Mitkari, Idris Naikwadi and MLA Sandeep Kshirsagar, went to the Marine Drive police station in south Mumbai to demand registration of an FIR under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), he said.
He claimed that when the process to record his statement began, a senior police official refused to register the FIR and instead accepted their application merely as a formality.
"The conduct of the police has further intensified our suspicion regarding the plane crash. If even after demands by elected representatives from both the opposition and the ruling parties the police are discarding the demand to register an FIR, it is unfortunate for Maharashtra," Pawar, who represents the Karjat-Jamkhed assembly constituency in Ahilyanagar district, said in the post.
The government and the machinery appeared to be protecting someone, he alleged, and questioned whether Ajit Pawar would get justice if such a situation persisted.
The NCP (SP) legislator said they would not relent until the matter is taken to its logical conclusion.
He added that at 9 am on Thursday, all those who love his uncle Ajit Pawar would go to the Baramati taluka police station to press for registration of an FIR.
While the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is expected to come out with its preliminary report into the fatal crash before February 28, concerns have been raised in certain quarters claiming there could have been a conspiracy that led to the crash.
