AGARTALA, Sep 30 (TIWN): ONGC installed Gas pipelines statewide without proper filtering system which is causing regular clogging of pipelines, so in the name of pipe-line maintenance by ONGC, power plants getting shut down. The materials which had been brought by ONGC, are proving as cheap quality pipe lines set without proper filtering system. OTPC Palatana General Manager Mukul Banerjee while talking to TIWN said, “The cause of OTPC’s shut down fully due to ONGC Tripura, as its their maintenance work which has to done annually”. Talking to a Palatana official, he said “all the shut downs of Palatana OTPC occur following the order of ONGC, and it is the ONGC workers who are doing this maintenance work presently”. However, it is to be mentioned here that OTPC’s both the units will remain shut down for six days due to this gas pipeline cleaning maintenance work. The shut down started from Sep 29 and will be ended on October 4.

Moreover, a ONGC official also said that before Durga Puja like previous years, this time also few shut downs may occur during Oct. month.Although Mukul Banerjee, GM at Palatana OTPC Plant earlier told TIWN that Palatana Plant is running “pretty well”, but with the shutdown of OTPC for 6 days long he seems has no choice . 

However, talking to Mukul Banerjee over phone, he agreed that not a single unit will be run during these 6 days but added  this is due to gas line maintenance work. Mukul Banerjee also inform medias to check the websites of Palatana OTPC to get up to date data on Plants. Tripura is already suffering due to frequent loadsheddings, then the continuous shut down of power plants  ONGC’s instability to supply gas or gas line maintenance keeps the state gripped into load shedding.Not only the gas pipe lines, but the turbine which was brought from abroad to Tripura via Kolkata & Dhaka port, is left in deplorable condition. Many times due to technical faults the turbine stops working.

However at the beginning of the year 2015, Palatana OTPC CMD Satyajit Ganguly announced that Tripura likely to start its commercial generation of the Unit- II from mid February 2015. But it is worthy to mention here that commercial generation is a matter of far reach Presently the Unit ll has yet not started to work properly but frequently undergoing shut downs.  In regard of selling powers with the neighbouring country, which was also announced by Tripura CM seems as a distant dream, as Tripura plants’ productions are not sufficient for this small state Tripura.