The project also faces the issue of discharging saline water of coalmine
40 percent mining work completed so far – Thar Coal Block-I Power Generation Company
Karachi: The residents of two villages in Thar Coal Block-I have been displaced where over 40 percent mining work has been completed. This project also faces the issue of discharging the saline water of the coalmine.
A delegation of Thar Coal Block-I Power Generation Co. requested the Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Tuesday to resolve their water issue. “The water being drilled out from the mine has to be disposed of somewhere and the water required for the power plant was also needed at Block-I,” the delegation said.
“The mining work would be completed by the end of 2021 and the first unit of the power plant would also start working from 2022 and the entire project would be completed by 2023,” Mr. Meng Donghai, CEO of Thar Coal Block-I Power Generation Co. said.
Mr. Meng, led a delegation of his company and held meeting with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in Karachi. The delegation consisted of CEO SSRL Mr. Li Jigen, Deputy CEO SSRL Mr. Huang Jinting and Deputy CEO Chaudhary Qayyum. Minister Energy Imtiaz Shaikh, Secretary Energy Tariq Shah and others were also present.
Thar Coal Block-I project involved a 7.8 million tons per annum (MTPA) open pit coal mine and installation of 1.3 GW ultra-supercritical coal fired power plant.
Talking to the delegation, Chief Minister said he will visit the project by the end of this month.
The chief minister directed Minister Energy Imtiaz Shaikh to conduct a feasibility study where to dispose of the mine water. “As far as provision of water for power plants was concerned a separate project from Nabirsar to Vajihar and then to Block-I has been launched,” he said and added that the Irrigation and Energy department would have to finalize it.
Shah said that the Block-I Power Generation Co. would have to sign a water user agreement with the energy department. “We will provide water to Thar Coal Block-I,” he said.
The chief minister urged the visiting delegation to re-settle the displaced people of Block-I. The CEO of Thar Coal Block-I said that the people of two villages have displaced with the development of the mine. “We are committed to settle them and the settlement process has already been started,” the CEO said.
Murad Ali Shah also urged the visiting delegation to accommodate local people in employment opportunities. “I want to share the fruits of the development with the local people of Thar and they have the foremost right,” he said.
The CM said that he would visit Thar Block-I and would meet with the affected people and review their settlement plan.
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