At least 5 people are feared dead and more than 100 labourers are suspected to be trapped under the debris of the 220 metre under-construction chimney of the 2×250 mw Parichha Extension thermal power station collapsed in Jhansi district in Bundelkhand region on Monday. The chimney, which was being built by the National Building Construction Company (NBCC) at the cost of Rs 30 crore, was almost near completion.
Although the mishap took place during lunch break when most labourers were having food under the chimney to avoid the blazing sun, rescue operations started late in the evening.
At present, four units of Parichha are generating 640 mw of electricity. With this, the state government?s dreams of easing the severe power crunch being faced in the state through this project lies shattered as does the hope that the state will turn power surplus with a few years. It may be mentioned that the state government had decided to get the Parichha extension work done by the Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (UPRVUNL), which had handed over the BTG contract to BHEL. BHEL, in turn, had sub-contracted the chimney contract to NBCC. Speaking to the media before rushing off to the mishap site, state?s power corporation chairman Navneet Sehgal said, ?the construction of the chimney had been almost completed and one of the two 250 mw units was to be commissioned by the first week of June.?