Thermal plant costs state dearly

Vijayawada , Nov. 24: The government is suffering crores of rupees loss due to frequent disturbances in the production of power in the 500 mw fourth unit of the Narla Tata Rao thermal power plant (NTTPS) in Ibrahimpatnam.

The construction of the fourth unit began in August 2005 and is not completed till now though the scheduled time was August 2008.

Due to this, the government is buying power from other states and private companies, spending crores of rupees. Government sanctioned construction works to BHEL and BGR Limited.

The fourth unit plant construction works worth Rs 1,054.24 crore were allotted to BHEL and Rs 578 crore works to BGR Energy Systems Limited Private.

The fourth unit started functioning in April 2009, nearly eight months behind the scheduled time. Since then, production was halted 14 times due to various technical problems.

The transformer was burnt on October 28, causing a loss of Rs 10 crore. After repairs, it was put on trial on November 20. However, it developed flashes on Tuesday, disrupting production.

Allegations were levelled that power production is frequently halted due to poor maintenance and low quality of works. The turbine barring machine and boiler ma-chine failed twice from Ap-ril 2009. In all, five pylons collapsed and the boiler is shaking in case power production crosses 250 mw.

Telugu Desam MLA Mr Devineni Uma alleged that the government had collected kickbacks and allotted the works to BRG Limited, this being related to chief advisor to government Mr K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao. He demanded a detailed probe into the poor quality of construction works.

NTTPS chief engineer Mr Anjaneya Rao said that the accident occurred due to a flash over in the transformer on Tuesday and hoped that power production to be resumed in three weeks.