Explosion at RTPS might aggravate Bangalore’s power woes.
An explosion at the second plant of the Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS) at 8.30am on Wednesday, reportedly due to a technical glitch, has not just critically injured two but has also dealt an almost fatal blow to any chance of tiding over the current power crisis in the state.
This means a major problem for Bangalore as well. “We have not been intimated about the technical problems at Raichur. But, if RTPS is not rectified in the next three days, we may have to extend load shedding in the city as well. None of the plants at Raichur are currently working at optimum capacity and this may also have an effect on the state's energy situation,” said P Manivannan, Managing Director, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company.
And how did this happen? Director (Technical), RTPS, T Bhaskar, told DNA over phone, “The boilers have immense pressure inside them. When the pressure exceeds the safe limit, it needs to be cooled off. By the time we could realise this, the workers had gone close to the window through which the flames, ash and embers burst out on them.”
A total of seven injured have been admitted to hospital. Two of them are in critical condition. “Injured persons are identified as Narsappa, Zindavalli, Mallappa, Bheemappa, Rafiq, Aslam and Noorsaab. Of the seven, two are critical and may be shifted to Hyderabad,” said Bhaskar.
The incident has pushed the state in a deeper crisis. Three plants out of the eight in Raichur were already not in working condition due to maintenance reasons. Now, with one more plant down, RTPS’ working output is less than 50 per cent.
“The plants are anyway not working to optimum capacity due to the coal shortage,” Bhaskar said. Now, Karnataka will face a further 840 MW shortage in power which, the experts say, will spell doom for the state. While the state was already facing shortage of 1,000 MW, this blast is a fatal blow to the energy department.
The state government has already introduced one hour power cuts in tier-two cities and 8-hour load shedding in rural areas. With a further 840 MW shortage, Bangaloreans may have to brace up for intermittent power cuts and unscheduled load shedding by the month end.
“If a boiler cannot be controlled, it speaks volumes about our technical capabilities and knowledge. These are day-to-day affairs which need to have been planned. There is no planning here. Repeated failures like this have only led us to lose faith in the situation,” said energy expert, MG Prabhakara.
RTPS officials said it would take three days to rectify RTPS’ second plant and also check on the other plants. “Development wise, it is going to be a major setback. We were already facing issues in power supply, now it will worsen further,” said JR Bangera, president, Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI).
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