Birra Thermal Power Project

Birra power station is a proposed 1320 megawatt power station to be located Birra, Janjgir – Champa District, Chhattisgarh, India.

Location
The map below shows the location of Birra, Champa District, Chhattisgarh, India but not the exact location of the project.

Background
The project is proposed by Moser Baer Power & Infrastructures. The company states that it is "actively pursuing various pre-developmental activities to achieve the planned Commercial Operation of this project by 2014."

Public hearing erupts into chaos
The Birra Thermal Power Project is in the Janjgir-Champa district of Chhattisgarh, an agricultural area where the state government has signed memoranda of understanding for 34 new thermal power plants totalling 34,000 MW, almost one-fourth of India's current thermal power capacity. Although the area lacks coal, it became a focal point for developers after neighboring Korba was listed as the fifth most polluted among the Critically Polluted Areas of India in 2009, leading the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to impose a moratorium on further environmental clearances. In an article entitled "Chhattisgarh: How to destroy a district," Prakhar Jain describes the following scene at a hearing to consider the Birra project:
 * As loudspeakers announced the conclusion of the public hearing, the mob started hurling abuses. Company executives ran for their lives. A 100-strong contingent of sleepy policemen, watching the proceedings till then with disinterest, suddenly swung into action to ensure the safety of officials.
 * The scene occurred at Birra village in the nondescript Janjgir-Champa district in Chhattisgarh on 22 September. The occasion was a public hearing for a 1,320 MW power plant proposed by Moser Baer.
 * More than 1,000 people listened as one by one, the aggrieved presented their views. The crowd cheered when Puri Bai from Siladeh screamed that she won’t give her land at any cost. “Where would we and our children go?” she asked.

Project Details
Sponsor: Moser Baer Power & Infrastructures Location: Birra, Champa District, Chhattisgarh, India Coordinates: 21.756471,82.782962 (approximate area only) Status: Early development Nameplate capacity: 1320 MW Type: Projected in service: 2014 Coal Type: Coal Source: Estimated annual CO2: Source of financing:

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