The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Ramagundam has set a record by putting to use all the ash, a byproduct of the thermal power station - during this financial year - to check pollution.
The fly ash, which was once considered a pollution causing commodity, is now considered precious. During this financial year, NTPC ensured that about 100.55% fly ash produced was utilised by various industries.
It may be recalled in 2013-14, NTPC Ramagundam unit utilised only 62.44% of the ash produced.
About 43.8% of the ash was used by Singareni Collieries.
The second largest consumer was the clay brick industry, followed by low lying area development, cement industry, tile manufacturing and agriculture sector.
Earlier, NTPC officials used the ash to produce bricks, which were used for construction of its function hall.
Later, these bricks were supplied to government agencies. However, since 2013, the Singareni management started using the ash to stow underground mines. Following this decision, the consumption of ash increased considerably.
In 2013, Singareni consumed about five lakh metric tonnes, which increased to 9.68 lakh metric tones in 2014. During this financial year, it had consumed about 18.23 lakh till February-end.
NTPC officials said constant educational programmes about the importance of ash had helped achieve cent per cent utilisation and check pollution in the region. The demand for NTPC ash had increased because of its quality and durability, they said.
