Unchahar power plant boiler blast toll rises to 29 says NTPC

New Delhi, Nov. 2 (PTI/IANS): The toll in the massive explosion that ripped a boiler at NTPC’s Unchahar plant in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli district yesterday has risen to 29, the state-run power giant said today.
Yesterday, a boiler exploded in unit six of the 1,550-megawatt (MW) plant.
The plant supplies power to nine states. The 500 MW unit-6 is under complete shut down after the blast, the NTPC said.
Power Minister R K Singh visited the NTPC station in Unchahar early morning today and monitored the situation. UP Energy Minister Shrikant Sharma was with Singh, the statement said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, took a break from campaigning in Gujarat and met the victims and their families.
The Union Power Minister also announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 20 lakh to the families of the deceased, Rs 10 lakh for the seriously injured and Rs 2 lakh to the other injured over and above the statutory compensation, it said.
The Power Minister met NTPC Chairman and Managing Director Gurdeep Singh and other senior officials and also visited the injured admitted in hospitals at Rai Bareilly and Lucknow today, it added.
The NTPC said that while Unit-6 of the plant is under shutdown after the accident, the other units of the station were operating normally it said adding that it is a system based organisation which follows best practices.
The NTPC expresses deep grief, support and condolences for the deceased workers who contributed towards providing 24X7 power to all, it added.

NTPC blast: Modi announces ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of the people who lost their lives in the NTPC boiler blast in Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh. Rs 50,000 was announced for each person injured in the state-run National Thermal Power Corp plant blast on Wednesday. The announcement was made by the Prime Minister’s Office in a tweet. Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also announced ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the kin of dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured.