Angul: The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has shut down Talcher Super Thermal Power Station (TSTPS) after coal stock in its stockyard plummeted due to strike by local villagers. Around 20 Substantially Affected Persons (SAP) have put up a road block at Nua Balanda village almost cutting off coal transportation to NTPC’s Kaniha plant for the past three days. The villagers have been demanding jobs in NTPC In a press statement, the NTPC authorities on Sunday said, “Due to the demonstration staged by the local villagers in the Lingaraj coal mine and Railway MGR line at Kaniha, coal supply to the NTPC Kaniha plant stopped. Of the total 3,000 MW units, one unit of 500 MW have been shut down due to stoppage in coal supply.”“If the coal crisis continues, power supply to Odisha and most of the southern states will be completely disrupted. The states include Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka,” the authorities added.Amit Kumar Behera, manager, Corporate Communication, NTPC, Kaniha, said, “Power generation has dipped in the other five units due to non-availability. This would affect the power situation in Odisha and other beneficiary states as well.” “If the local villagers continue their strike, more units will shut down and go off the grid,” Behera added.He alleged that the agitators are blocking the MGR line over unreasonable demands. “The same group has been frequently staging protests. In January, they had blocked the Lingaraj MGR line for 10 days, causing more than Rs 5 crore loss,” Behera said.The plant requires 55,000 MT coal daily to run its six units that are of 500 MW capacity each. At present, the coal stock is less than 1 lakh tonne.

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