Kothagudem: Explosion in cooling towers of thermal power station

Kothagudem: Eight cooling towers of the operation and maintenance (O&M) power plant of Kothagudem Thermal Power Station (KTPS) at Paloncha in the district collapsed on Monday. The power plant complex was closed a few years ago and its power generation parts were razed, along with the debris removed. The permission to demolish the cooling towers was delayed as the code of conduct for the assembly elections was in place.

Tenders were invited by Genco and HR Commercial got the contract worth Rs 485 crore a few months ago. The 100 and 120 metre high cooling towers at the old KTPS plant were razed only last February. The eight cooling towers were constructed to generate 720 MW power at the A, B and C power stations built in phases from 1965-67 to 78.