The accident happened on the afternoon of 1 November 2017 in the coal-fired power plant located in Unchahar, Raebareli district. More casualties are expected as a number of victims had reportedly sustained serious burn injuries.
NTPC said in a statement: “Rescue operations are underway in close coordination with District Administration. Injured persons are being shifted to the nearby hospitals.
“NTPC's senior management is rushing to the site to coordinate the efforts.”
An official of NTPC told Zee News that a human error cannot be ruled out in the boiler explosion.
The boiler was of the sixth unit of the thermal power plant which was commissioned in April this year to increase the overall capacity of the Unchahar plant from 1,050MW to 1.55GW.
In November 2013, the state-run BHEL had been given the main plant package contract for INR13bn ($200m) of the 500MW unit of the power plant.
First unit of the thermal power plant, of 210MW capacity was commissioned in 1988. The following year, another 210MW unit was added as part of the first stage of the coal-fired power project.
Nearly ten years later, two units of 210MW each were added to the power plant as part of its second stage. In 2006, the power plant was further beefed up with a new 210MW unit.
The Unchahar thermal plant sources its coal from North Karanpura Coalfield located in Ranchi in Jharkhand state while the water is sourced from Sarda Sahyak Canal in Uttar Pradesh.
