Two years ago, coal power plants were given new emission norms to follow. The deadline has come. Tomorrow, on the 7th of December 2017, all power plants must have complied with the norms. But as the government shuffles papers around, existing coal power plants continue to pollute and a number of them remain pursuant of approval in order to be set up.
What is the point of all the efforts going into devising amendments to the Environment (Protection) rules of 1986, when there is a clear lack of implementation of the rules?
If stressed coal power plants are unable to invest in pollution reduction technology, because the costs are huge, (approximately Rs 1 crore per MW for old power projects and Rs 50 lakh per MW for new ones.1) why not invest in actually clean renewable technology?
As a growing energy consuming economy, It’s time India stopped compartmentalising energy targets and worked holistically towards reaching the renewable energy goals as per committments to the UNFCC (175GW by 2022)
Despite many concerns raised, there has been a clear lack of will by the government to act. The time has come for the government to stand by the deadlines and committments it sets, and be warned of the health crisis India may await in the coming years if air quality is allowed to resume in its current level.
As more and more voices join in, the call to governments and corporates to enforce standards without any further delay and enable the roadmap for implementation is getting louder.
Join our expert campaigners and the Greenpeace India team on the 8th of Dec (this Friday) at 3:30pm on twitter to discuss more on this. Follow us at @greenpeaceindia, and the twitter chat at #cleanairchat
Reference:
- livemint.com/Industry/LCPWq7z6dZgAbWv3xJdtMP/India-may-extend-power-projects-emission-deadline-to-Decemb.html
Grace Saji works as a Content Developer at Greenpeace India