Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), which is setting up a 2,520-MW thermal power plant in Purulia, West Bengal, has said the delay occurred in laying water pipes required for the plant would not lead to a major cost escalation.

The pipeline-laying work, stalled on October 21 due to land acquisition woes, will resume on Friday, R N Sen, Chairman of DVC, told Business Line here on Thursday.

“This is a manageable situation, even though the contractors have been clamouring for compensation for frequent work stoppages in laying the pipeline and other related civil work,” he said. “If the work could be carried out smoothly from now on, the residual corridor work can complete in the next four months.”Local residents have been resisting the use of land not only for the water corridor but also for a railway line for bringing coal, and building a fly ash pond. For the railway line, DVC needs about 24 acres out of a total of 80 acres required for the project.

These three auxiliary facilities—water corridor, railway line and fly ash pond—are now the major bottlenecks for executing the the power project. Apart from these three, the first project work was “ready”, DVC has said.

Completion date

Added Sen: “The situation appears to have eased, but eruption of trouble in the future cannot be ruled out.”The first 600-MW unit in the first phase of the Raghunathpur Thermal Power Project was originally set for commissioning in November 2010.

The second phase of the project is expected to complete in six months after the commissioning of the first unit. The first and second phases are slated to cost around Rs 6,000 crore and Rs 10,000 crore, respectively.

jayanta.mallick@thehindu.co.in

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