Kopili Tragedy: NEEPCO Blames it on Meghalaya Coal Mining

Our Bureau

GUWAHATI/HAFLONG: The NEEPCO (North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd) has blamed it on illegal and rampant mining of coal in Meghalaya for the recent tragedy in Kopili Hydel Project at Umrangso.

Talking to The Sentinel on Friday, NEEPCO’s Independent Director Vijay Gupta said: “The mining of coal in Meghalaya emitted chemicals that have polluted the water of Kopili, and turned it acidic. The acidic water led to the corrosion of the metals and other materials used in the reservoir that failed to sustain the water pressure and gave in on October 7. The pH (potential of hydrogen) level of the water is very high, and it can’t be brought to normal even after the use of lime. The capacity of the reservoir was 6,000 crore litres.”

Gupta further said: “We cautioned the Union Ministry of Power and the chief secretaries of both Assam and Meghalaya governments of such a disaster because of mining in Meghalaya since 2009 as the ill effects of mining on the water of Kopili was detected in 2007-08. We did hold a seminar on the ‘Pollution of Kopili Water and its Probable Effects on the Power Project’ in 2011 in Guwahati. We kept all the three governments informed of the warnings issued at the seminar. However, no action has been taken on that. It’ll now take six/seven months for the restoration of the reservoir and production of power.”

Assam gets 150 MW of power from the 275-MW Kopili Hydel Project.

Meanwhile, till filing of this report the rescue operation could not be started as the water level is yet to recede. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has ordered an enquiry into the incident by the DIG, Southern Range.

The Dimasa Students’ Union (DSU) secretary, on the other hand, said that an enquiry by the DIG will not be satisfactory since the tragedy has nothing to do with law and order. He said that since it is a technical matter, a high-level judicial or magisterial inquiry into the incident will serve the purpose better.

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