(Feature Image: HTPS fly ash dam breach floods farmlands in Korba in June 2025. Source)
In 2025 we could find one incident of fly ash dam breach flood in India. The incident happened in Dindolbhantha village area near Chhirhut under Katghora tehsil of Korba district in Chhattisgarh on June 26, 2025. The fly ash dam covering around 60 ha is created by Chhattisgarh State Power Generation Company (CSPGC) formerly known as Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board (CSEB) to store fly ash slurry from 840 Mw (210X4) Hasdeo Thermal Power Station (HTPS) also known as Korba West Thermal Power Station (KWTPS).
While the fly ash dam is located close to Ahiran river-a tributary of Hasdeo river, the power plant is located about 9km west ward near Darri reservoir on Hasdeo river in Mahanadi basin. The slurry is supplied to the fly ash pondage through pipeline.
A part of fly ash dam bund breached in the evening after rise in water levels following intermittent rains for past two days. The slurry laced water flooded farm lands belonging to about 20 farmers and also affected a part of Chhirhut village area. As a result, 9 families had to be shifted in Panchayat building. As per the affected farmers they had readied the farm for paddy sowing season but the flood undid the preparation work causing them financial losses.
The villagers blamed the CSPGC management for being negligent in monitoring and maintaining safety of the dam structure before the monsoon. Few farmers alleged that complaints about seepages from the dam were ignored by the CSPGC. As per villagers a similar incident had taken place near Dhanras/ Ghamota last year and administration provided no compensation to the affected so far.
The affected villagers demanded immediate compensation against their losses and strong measures to avoid such disasters in future. The administration assured the villagers of setting up a probe committee into the incident and providing relief and rehabilitation to affected families. This ground video report shows the impact of fly ash dam breach in the area.
It is worth mentioning that in the first week of June 2025, NTPC fly ash dam affected villagers had protested against adverse impacts of fly ash pollution on their health and farmlands. Stopping work at fly ash dam, they accused NTPC management of being indifferent to their 7 point demands as agreed upon by NTPC in Oct. 2024 including strict measures to control air, water pollution in the area, compensation against land acquired and impacted by dam seepage and employment. They even threw fly ash on the officials for ignoring their plight and demands.
Fly ash dam breach incidents in recent past in Korba district. Aug 2024: Fly ash slurry flooded Kharmora power sub-station and adjoining farmlands following heavy rainfall on Aug. 01, 2024 night. This was the second time this season that fly ash slurry flooded the substation premises. After the rain the fly ash broke through the boundary wall and flowed rapidly into the substation premises, blocking the vehicles of the employees.
As per the officials the grain market is built on about 18 acres of land adjoining the substation. Previously, large-scale fly ash dumping had taken place there which was covered under the soil layer. During last night’s rain, a strong flow of fly ash along with water broke through the boundary wall and entered the substation premises engulfing the entire premises.
The report fly ash from coal power plants has reportedly being disposed of in violation of the rules resulting in the suffering of both humans and animals. From roadsides to any vacant land, fly ash has been dumped on the ground. There is hardly any vacant space in the district where fly ash has not been dumped. The haphazardly dumped fly ash has been polluting the water sources.
July 2024: A breach in fly ash dyke in Dhanras village flooded and damaged paddy crops in about 16 ha of farmlands and part of village area on July 1, 2024. The dyke spread over 420 ha belongs to 2600 Mw Korba Super Thermal Power Station (KSTPS) of National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC). The fly ash dam is located close to the Hasdeo river which is also source of water to KSTPS.
The incident occurred after rise in pondage level in dam following prolonged rain spell in the area. The affected farmers blamed NTPC management for deliberately releasing excess water in their farmlands. As per them, they suffered losses in a similar incident in 2021 but were given no compensation by NTPC for past four years.
According to a farmer, the fly ash flood was turning their fields barren and he would not be able to harvest his fields for a year after the breach. The villagers alleged that NTPC ignored fly ash pond maintenance works during summer months. They claimed that pipe line laid to drain out excess rain water are always chocked resulting in dam overflow and breach during monsoon.
However, the NTPC officials clarified that they intentionally breached a part of the bund to avoid collapse of the structure in the wake of heavy rains. They also stated that affected farmers would be compensated and they had taken permission to raise the height of the structure.
June 2021: Amid prolonged rain spells the fly dam of NTPC near Dhanras village overflowed and flooded the farmlands of the villagers. After the incident the affected farmers held a meeting with administration and demanded compensation from NTPC following which the tehsildar issued notice to NTPC.
Aug 2020: The frequent seepages and breaches in Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd. (BALCO now a unit of a unit of Vedanta Aluminium) fly ash dam number 6 has turned the lives of local people miserable and become a source of contamination for Hasdeo river. As per the Rukbahari villagers whose land was acquired for creation of the fly ash dam, they face slurry flood every year during the rainy season. The situation has remained the same for the past 10 years impacting their lives and farmlands. The rains have washed away soil cover around the fly ash dam bund weakening the structure.
During breach the fly ash slurry gets washed down into Belgari (Rukbahari) nullah and flows through Nehru Nagar in the Balco area. It then joins Dhenguranala another perennial drain, near Azad Nagar. Dhenguranala then merges into Hasdeo river. As per the report, there are around a dozen being and small power plants in the Korba district producing around 2,00,000 tons of fly ash daily but all have been failing in fly ash utilization.
June 2017: The embankment of the ash dam at the Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (DSPM) Thermal Power Plant in Korba breached suddenly on June 01, 2017 near Godhi village flooding surrounding fields. After the incident the villagers alleged mismanagement in the maintenance of the dam structure.
In a related matter, the Chhattisgarh High Court on Oct. 31, 2025 disposed a PIL regarding the dumping of fly ash in an abandoned stone mine in Korba district, stating it hopes the authorities will not permit any industry to fill the pit with fly ash. The PIL was filed to prevent thermal power plants from dumping ash in the abandoned Konkona Ordinary Stone Mines in village Konkona, tehsil Podi-Uproda in Korba.
The petitioner highlighted that the two un-reclaimed pits at the Konkona mine site, formed after stone mining for NH-130A was completed in 2017, were supposed to be left or developed as a water reservoir according to the approved mining and environmental plans.
The petitioner provided representations to authorities with GPS-tagged photos and videos showing ash dumping in the clean water reservoir, and pointed out the River Tan is situated within 150 metres of the abandoned mines. The PIL specifically sought to quash an order dated 7 August 2025 that directed thermal power plants to dewater the pit and to cancel all permissions granted for ash dumping.
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