Ratnagiri (Maharashtra): Over 30 students of a school located near the JSW energy plant in Ratnagiri suffered effects from fumes released by a storage tank of the plant, a section of the media reported on Thursday (Dec 12).
As per the local police, the students are from the Jaigad Vidya Mandir school, which is located near the plant. A total of 250 students were in the school campus when a highly odorous fumes leaked out of the plant, causing watery eyes, irritation and anxiety among 30 students.
Also Read: JSW Infra offers bid to buy DLI India group to expand its operation
Reports said that the gas leaked during the tank cleaning process. Some of the affected students were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, the police added.
“The fumes were from Ethyl mercaptan, which is a colourless, flammable, and highly odorous liquid that is used as an odorant for natural gas and as a starting material for plastics, insecticides, and antioxidants,” a police official said.
A JSW spokesperson, when contacted, declined to comment on the causes of the gas leak.
JSW has set up a coal-based power plant located in Nandiwade village near Jaigad in Ratnagiri district Maharashtra at the cost of around ₹5,441 crore. The power plant is operated by the JSW Energy Limited (JSWEL) and it mainly runs on imported coal. It has an installed capacity of 1200 MW (4×300 MW). The plant became fully operational in 2011.
Waking up to the people’s complaint, the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) had in March 2017 carried out an inspection of the plant and noted that the exit velocity of the flue gas in the stack emission section was found to be less than 21 metre per second. The company had also not submitted details of the greenbelt development plan to the ministry. The firm was also accused of not monitoring the groundwater level regularly.
