23 April 2020

A major fly ash failure and release at Singrauli in India – Planet Labs images

Posted by Dave Petley

A major fly ash failure and release at Singrauli in India – Planet Labs images

On 10 April 2020 a major collapse occurred of a fly ash retaining structure at Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh in India.  The South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRA) has a detailed article on this collapse, which occurred in a storage pond for the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project near to the village of Harrahva in Singrauli district.  The collapse and subsequent debris flow killed six people and inundated fields for a distance of about 5 km downstream.

The site of the breach is 23.95, 82.22 – there is good Google Earth imagery of the site.  This is a Planet Labs image showing the site on 9 April 2020, the day before the fly ash failure:-

The Singrauli fly ash failure

Planet Labs image of the Singrauli fly ash failure. Image captured on 9 April 2020, copyright Planet Labs, used with permission.

.

Whilst this is the image from 12 April 2020, showing the breach and the release of the fly ash, and the inundated area downstream:-

Singrauli fly ash failure

Planet Labs image of the aftermath of the Singrauli fly ash failure. Image captured on 12 April 2020, copyright Planet Labs, used with permission.

.

Interestingly, this appears to be a comparatively new fly ash storage facility.  Google Earth imagery from September 2018 does not show any storage at this particular location.

The SANDRP article indicates that this is the third such incident in India in the last year:-

First in August 2019, there was breach in artificial pond of Essar Power Company and then in October 2019 a similar incident had taken place in Vindhyachal super thermal power plant owned by NTPC in the district. Both the incidents had caused wide scale destruction.  

Back in 2009, when this blog was still on its old site, I posted about a major fly ash failure in Tennessee. That post is still visible, albeit with slightly odd formatting.

Reference

Planet Team (2020). Planet Application Program Interface: In Space for Life on Earth. San Francisco, CA. https://www.planet.com/