Coal plants fail on pollution norms, may cost 4,800 lives every year: Study

Research by independent group warns against rise in respiratory diseases and economic loss if air pollution increases.

India is racing to install solar capacity and shift its energy mix to renewables, but a study says it has not complied with norms set in 2015 to fix pollution caused by coal-based power plants.

The study said that if India operates 55 per cent plant load factor capacity (PLF) at 2018 levels, it could lose 4,828 lives every year in 19 states and union territories. If coal-based plants operate at 100 per cent capacity, the number of deaths due to air pollution will increase by 70 per cent to 8,200 deaths every year.

If plants run full steam, there would be a 69 per cent increase in diabetes cases, a 76 per cent increase in cases of new asthma cases among children, and a 70 per cent increase in cases of stroke and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. The economic cost would rise as 85,86,300 workdays will be lost due to air pollution, said the study called 'Health and economic impacts of unabated coal-power generation in Delhi-NCR' and released by Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). 

If power plants comply with the environment ministry’s 2015 guidelines requiring power plants to reduce SO2, NOx, and particulate matter emissions, the incidence of deaths could reduce by 63 per cent each year if PLF capacity stays at 2018 levels.

CREA data from November 2020 highlights that just 1.7 per cent of the 448 plant units were complying with sulphur dioxide emission norms. And, only 21% will be compliance-ready within the timeframe set by the government.

At best, the study states that deaths will reduce to 1,799 every year. New asthma cases among children will be down by 13 per cent, whereas diabetes and stroke cases will reduce by 65 per cent.

However, it is unlikely that PLF capacity will stay at 2018 levels. At present, CREA data highlights that the PLF was 63.27 per cent.

Uttar Pradesh is among states expected to suffer most in the pollution. While the state is expected to account for 31 per cent of the deaths in the current scenario, even if it complies to new standards, its share in total deaths is expected to rise to 32 per cent.