People demand compensation from Reliance power plant in Madhya Pradesh that damaged about 100 houses and nearby crops in an ash spillage.
Anil Kumar Tiwari
April 15,2020
The dyke of the Reliance Power Plant located in the Harwara village of the Singrauli district collapsed on April 10, 2020. The leak killed three people and three more are yet to be found.Even after five days,bodies of the three missing people have not been recovered.
Tilakraj Sahu, resident said, “A five-feet-tall foothill of ash has gathered in our fields. It has destroyed all our crops and killed our cattle.” He said that his house has been destroyed and that they don’t have anything to eat.
Ashwani Dubey, a Supreme Court lawyer demanded that a case of culpable homicide should be slapped against plant management. “Sasan Mega Plant has a very small ash storage unit which is defective. The Supreme Court had ordered them to repair the plant but they ignored it. I am planning to apporch the Supreme Court again. The government should cancel the license of the plant,” he said.
This is the third incident of ash leak from the said plant since last year. In August 2019, a similar leakage of the Essar power plant ruined about 100 acres of land. At that time also, people protested and complained against the plant, but no action was taken.
K V S Choudhary, Collector & District Magistrate of Singrauli said, “Prima facie negligence of the Reliance is found. I have received many complaints that crops have been destroyed in nearby villages. We are investigating the issue and strict action will be taken against the plant.”
He also added, “We are trying our best to find the villagers who have gone missing. We will ensure that compensation is given..”
In the wake of the incident, the Reliance power plant management has promised to give Rs ten lakh to the kin of the minor who succumbed to the disaster and five lakh each to the kin of rest of the people who died. However, they have not annocunced any compensation for the damage of crops and houses.
Ramlallu Vaishya, MLA from Singrauli said that he was in touch with the victim and would assure that strict action would be taken against the plant as soon as possible.
FEATURE IMAGE CREDIT – Brijesh Dwivedi
