sorry snag: The Chandrapura Thermal Power Station in Bokaro

Chandrapura, Sept. 21: Fifty-seven long months and a whopping Rs 3,000 crore later, it’s all but a failed promise.

Two new units of the Chandrapura Thermal Power Station (CTPS) in Bokaro, planned with big money to cater to the enormous energy need during the Commonwealth Games — beginning in New Delhi from October 3 — will be able to generate only half the guaranteed 500MW. Reason: faulty handling of one of the units during trial runs earlier this month.

Speaking to The Telegraph, chief engineer of the units (Nos. 7 and 8) R. Basuri said 250MW would be generated by No. 8, expected to see final commissioning within this week since the trial run had been successful.

He remained evasive on why unit No. 7 would not generate another 250MW in time, i,e. before the Commonwealth Games commenced. “It is a technical snag,” he said.

But highly placed sources in Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), which along with the Union power ministry planned the power bank after dates for the Games were announced five years ago, confirmed manual error.

Sources said in the first two weeks of September, trials were held for both units, starting with No. 7. During one such test run, the rotor of No. 7 was turned in the wrong direction, leading to a sudden flow of electric charge that gutted a major portion of the unit.

Two technical teams — one from Bhel, Haridwar, and another from DVC, Calcutta — are expected to reach Chandrapura in a day or two to put the unit in order. Given the extent of damage, the unit cannot be revived anytime before January, three months after the Commonwealth Games.

A third team of high-level officials from the Centre will also reach CTPS to probe into the “technical snag”.

Soon after the Games was announced in 2005, the Union power ministry and DVC planned the two new CTPS units. Their foundations were laid in early 2006 and a 39-month deadline was set for the project, which was initially worth Rs 2,000 crore.

Costs escalated by Rs 1,000 crore as the project dragged on for 57 months, but without producing the desired result.

On how the 250MW shortage would be made up during the Games, Basuri said DVC was expected to supply 500MW from its Mejia plant in neighbouring Bengal.