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Farmer unions away in Delhi, dismantling of Bathinda thermal plant picks pace without any resistance
Disassembling work at the now defunct Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant (GNDTP), Bathinda, has picked momentum without resistance from any group with the farmers’ agitation
Disassembling work at the now defunct Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant (GNDTP), Bathinda, has picked momentum without resistance from any group with the farmers’ agitation against the Central government’s agriculture laws taking the centerstage since October.
Backed by various farmer rights associations, the GNDTP employees union had been opposing dismantling of the facility. Various associations had staged dharnas disallowing the work after Mumbai-based firm HR Commercial Private Limited won competitive bidding to dismantle the plant’s infrastructure in September.
These unions were demanding that the state government revoke its decision and restart the 46-year-old coal-based plant.
DP Garg, who holds the additional charge of GNDTP chief engineer, said the firm is continuing with its work for over a month now. “After completing the bidding formalities, the Mumbai-based private firm was issued sale order on October 8. Initially, the unions had expressed reservation but now the work is going on smoothly. The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has asked the firm to complete the work within 18 months,” said Garg.
The PSPCL had got Rs 164 crore from the firm against a reserve price of Rs 132 crore in the e-bidding.
The state government is pitching for construction of one of the three ‘bulk drug parks’ being set up by the Centre where companies relocating from China will be invited to set up shops. In October, the Bathinda municipal corporation (MC) decided to keep nearly 1,200-acre land of the defunct plant out of its jurisdiction for the proposed pharma industrial project.
The four mega cooling towers of the power facility have been declared monuments and will not be brought down. Only civil structures, including chimneys and machinery used in power generation besides cables and pipes, will be disposed of.
The plant was shut down in 2018 in view of the Central Electricity Agency (CEA) guidelines to retire non-viable thermal power plants that have exceeded a life span of 25 years.
