Study of pollution data from Ennore thermal power plants shows violations
The report 'Breathless in Ennore - 2025', conducted by Durga Moorthy, established the non-compliance with statutory emission norms using online continuous emission monitoring systems (OCEMS) as directed by the Central Pollution Control Board under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
The study of data from three power plants, including North Chennai thermal power station 1 and 2 and the NTPC Tamilnadu Energy company limited (NTECL), has shown more than 50% violation in emission standards.
The study took hourly average of continuous stack emission monitoring data from TPPs in Ennore and was assessed from TNPCB's Care Air Centre (CAC) for three months during winter.
The CAC portal checks parameters of particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and Sulfur dioxide (SO2) that ought to be monitored for each stack emission source. A total of 24 stack parameters were studied.
In NCTPS-1, overall non compliance was 23% with parameters for SO2 at 23%, NOx - 23% and PM - 22%. For NCTPS-2 , with two units, it indicated 100% overall non-compliance and finally, NTECL had an overall non-compliant of 40% emission level. The NTECL, which has three units, non-compliance was recorded at 95% for SO2, 13% for NOx and 14% for PM.
Responding to the data, Tangedco said in a press release that during unit outages of the NCTPS 1 and 2 the parameters would be available and the data of the PM, SO2 and NOx, would be available in the CAC portal.
of TNPCBAlso during the assessment period of three months mentioned in the report, an annual overhaul was carried out for Unit 1 and Unit 3 of NTCPS-1 and Unit 1 for NCTPS-2.
As per the TNPCB website all the parameters have been found to be within the permissible limit, except SO2.
It is proposed to instal an FGD as per the Centre's latest guidelines, to correct this value.
Tangedco said the issues raised in the report regarding stack emission non compliance and data quality from thermal power plants will be analysed too.
However, it also pointed out that several measures were being taken as per norms of equipping the stacks of thermal plants with OCEMs, inbuilt alarm and regulatory mechanism to monitor and automatically alert if the emission exceeds permissible limits and constitution of monitoring team for collecting and submitting OCEMS, as per NGT orders.
The Tangedco is also putting in place future improvements to control air pollution and emission through the strengthening of Internal validity checks to improve the detection and redressal of any invalid data, installation of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) and upgradation of electrostatic precipitator (ESP). A seasonal pollution strategy of developing season-specific mitigation protocols and real-time interventions during high-risk meteorological conditions is being worked put by TNPCB.
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In 2014, it completed the Zangmu Dam along the main stem of the Yarlung Tsangpo. The Indian government, too, has expedited the clearance of big dams along the YTB and its tributaries. — The river crosses one of the disputed boundaries between India and China — the McMahon Line, which separates the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh from Tibet. The McMahon Line was negotiated in 1914 by representatives of the new Republic of China, the Tibetan government, and the British government. — As the YTB descends from the Himalayan mountains to the plains of Assam, it crosses steep slopes and gathers strong energy, which gets scattered in the form of intense summer floods, especially in India and Bangladesh. 'The energy that the YTB gains throughout its course also puts the river at the centre of China's and India's recent renewable energy development strategies,' says Rampini. For long, both countries have been mobilising their engineering capacities to dam their respective stretches of the river and harness optimal hydropower. — India and the international community continue to recognise it as the legal border between North-east India and the current-day Tibet Autonomous Region of China. However, since gaining control over Tibet in the mid-20th century, China has contested the border, arguing that Tibet was not an independent state at the time of the treaty, making it invalid. Conclusion: — The Brahmaputra, or Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet, is counted among the world's ten major rivers; there is also no major international water treaty governing the YTB. Bangladesh, as the lowest riparian country in the basin, feels the most threatened, experts say. — The melting of Himalayan snow and ice has a significant impact on the YTB's flows and flood intensity. 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Body: You may incorporate some of the following points in your answer: — In their book, Monsoon Feelings: A History of Emotions in Rain (2018), historians Imke Rajamani, Margrit Pernau, and Katherine Butler Schofield write that although these recurring themes and symbols in Indian art would lead one to assume that the monsoons elicited the same kind of emotions across time and region, that, in fact, was not true. 'Monsoon feelings have a history, which encompasses both continuity and change,' they write. They also point to the rise and decline of the Indus Valley Civilisation, which they write is attributed to changing patterns of monsoons. — Take, for instance, the kingdom of Bikaner, which has historically been one of the driest states of India. However, as noted by art historian Molly Emma Aitken in her article, 'Dark, Overwhelming, yet Joyful: The Monsoon in Rajput Painting', 'the ceilings and walls of its Junagadh Fort burst with monsoon clouds and driving lines of rain, with white cranes flying across wall panels of monsoon black.' Here, monsoon was celebrated for being auspicious and bearing the promise of fertility. — An example is a 16th century folio from the Harivamsa showing Lord Krishna holding up Mount Govardhan to shelter the villagers of Braj. — Abhisarika Nayika, one of ancient Indian aesthetics' eight sorts of heroines, is a popular figure in monsoon art. In art, Abhisarika Nayika is portrayed as a bold woman walking into the stormy night to see her beloved. She is depicted as a pale person in a dark, wet, demon-infested night, unaware of the impediments in her path, including vipers entwined around her legs. The rain and lightning in these paintings represent a hurdle to love, as well as the heroine's bravery and devotion. — The classical Sanskrit poem, Meghaduta, by Kalidasa has lent itself as a theme to artists painting the monsoon. The poem tells the story of a yaksha who longs for his wife and uses a cloud as a messenger. In Kalidasa's poetic description, the beauty of the Himalayan landscape comes to life in the rainy season, with rivers flowing gracefully and elephants playing in the forests. — The monsoons continued to have a significantly more pervasive presence in 17th-century paintings of musical modes known as Ragamala paintings. This type of painting, which started in 17th-century Rajasthan, depicts variants of Indian musical modes or ragas. As a result, in these paintings, each raga is represented by a hue and a mood, as well as the season of the year or time of day when the raga is supposed to be sung. (Source: Painting the rain: How Indian art obsesses with the monsoons) Points to Ponder Read more about Indian Paintings Read more about Monsoon Related Previous Year Questions Why is the South-West Monsoon called 'Purvaiya' (easterly) in Bhojpur Region? How has this directional seasonal wind system influenced the cultured ethos of the region? (2023) What characteristics can be assigned to monsoon climate that succeeds in feeding more than 50 percent of the world population residing in Monsoon Asia? (2017) UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 112) UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 111) UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 112) UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 111) UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 110) UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 111) Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week. 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