NASHIK ROAD: There is no plan to shut down the Ekalhare power plant, which is equally important for the Deolali assembly constituency. The rumours circulating about it are baseless, clarified State Energy Minister Nitin Raut adding that he would personally visit the project next month. MLA Saroj Ahire had called on Energy Minister Raut and Minister of State Prajakt Tanpure and sought clarification on the rumours that the Eklahare power project will be shut down.
The MLA spoke to the Energy Minister about last week’s meeting on Sinnar’s project in which the issue of shutting down the 660 MW thermal power plant at Eklahare got raised. Responding to this, Minister Raut had clarified that he was not present at the meeting.
“As the head of this portfolio, I have not taken any decision to close the thermal power plant at Eklahare in Nashik. Apart from this, there are no plans to close the project at present,” said the minister. Therefore, the public in the area should not have any misconceptions about the project, he added.
MLA Ahire showed the public outcry over the project and conveyed sentiments of people beyond politics to both the ministers. The project employs many people and provides livelihood to about five thousand families.
Many farmers became landless; the livelihood of all these people is at stake. She urged that the project should be continued taking care not to increase unemployment. She explained the importance of this project in the context of the Nashik-Pune-Mumbai golden triangle. Meanwhile, Energy Minister Raut will visit the plant in January and discuss what else can be done about this project. On the occasion, MLA Ahire said that training classes of the project got affected and have been closed since last July. The classes should get rescheduled now.
