FLY ASH

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Context: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) noted that there was an urgent need to augment the utilisation and disposal of fly ash in Chhattisgarh.

Details:

• The NGT order was in response to an application filed regarding fly ash disposal by the management of Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (BALCO) in Korba district.
• The application alleged that the fly ash disposal was in violation of rules and was causing adverse effects on human health and agriculture fields.
• Fly ash has been a big menace for years now because it usually dumped illegally into water bodies. Also, the presence of fly ash in ambient air deteriorates air quality.
• The under-utilisation of fly ash, a by-product, over the years has led to the accumulation of 1,670 million tonnes of it. This is according to the Summary of Ash Generation and Utilisation during 2020-2021 by the NGT-constituted joint committee on fly ash.
• There has been a question mark over fly ash usage and compliance norms for a long time. Several incidents involving breaches in ash dykes have also been reported.
• Sometimes, ash flooding has led to the loss of lives in nearby settlements as well.
• The fly ash menace was discussed and a notification was drafted in 1999. The notification went through amendments in 2003, 2004, 2009 and 2016 in order to achieve the target of 100 per cent fly ash utilisation. Last year, the fifth amendment to the notification was drafted.
• Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) reported in 2021 that 40-50 per cent power plants in India were still in non-compliance of achieving 100 per cent fly ash utilisation 22 years since the 1999 notification was introduced. There are some plants that do not even utilise 30-40 per cent of their generated ash.
• Thus, generating approximately 9,000 megawatt of electricity leads to an average generation of 72,000 tonnes of fly ash daily. The rate of fly ash generation in general is much higher than the rate of disposal and utilisation.

What is Fly ash?

• Fly ash is a fine gray powderconsisting mostly of spherical, glassy particles that are produced as a byproduct in coal-fired power stations.
• Fly ash has pozzolanic properties, it reacts with lime to form cementitious compounds.
• It is commonly known as a supplementary cementitious material.
• Fly ash is also known as flue-ash or simply ash.

Application or uses of Fly Ash:

Fly ash is suitable for a wide variety of applications and uses, including:

• Concrete
• Dams
• Flowable fill
• Mines
• Landfills
• Geopolymer concrete

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/environment/ngt-order-on-korba-can-it-improve-fly-ash-disposal-utilisation-in-india-85056#:~:text=CSE%20supports%20order&text=Insufficient%20capacity%20of%20fly%20ash,of%20residents%20and%20agricultural%20land