Govt to make fly ash usage mandatory
Formulates a standard operating procedure; Power Ministry shall take action against the independent power plants and State plants that don’t follow statutory obligations regarding supply of fly ash
It was decided that the MORTH will provide a list of the road projects, for which bids were received between 2016 and 2021, along with the requirement of fly ash in these projects, official sources told Bizz Buzz
The issue of mandatory utilization of fly ash for highway building is in the process of being resolved as the Ministries of Road Transport & Highways (MORTH) and Power (MOP) have taken important decisions for that purpose.
Power Minister RK Singh recently held a meeting comprising the Secretary of his own Ministry, the MORTH Secretary, National Highways Authority of India Chairman, senior officials from the Central Electricity Authority and NTPC, and representatives from other stakeholder organizations. It was decided that the MORTH will provide a list of the road projects, for which bids were received between 2016 and 2021, along with the requirement of fly ash in these projects, official sources told Bizz Buzz.
A standard operating procedure was also formulated. As per the SOP, wherever fly ash is available, it will be provided by the thermal power stations (TPPs) in accordance with the provisions of the Ministry of Environment’s 2016 notification.
The 2016 notification said, “no agency, person or organization shall, within a radius of three hundred kilometres of a thermal power plant, undertake construction or approve design for construction of roads or flyover embankments with top soil.”
Where the entire ash has been auctioned, the TTP may issue a ‘no availability certificate’ to the MORTH and the NHAI. If the issuable ash is in the process of being tied up as per the MOP’s advisory, the TPP will first supply the ash free of cost with free transportation to the road projects for which the bid due date is between January 2016 and December 2021.
The MOP shall take action against the independent power plants and state plants that don’t follow their statutory obligations regarding the supply of fly ash to the MORTH and the NHAI, the sources said.
The MORTH will also explore measures to curb inflated billing. This may include identifying the shortest route, geo-tagging, etc.
