How India’s Coal Power Boom Is Worsening the Water Crisis

According to Reuters, out of the 44 new coal projects, 37 are located in areas that are classified as water-scarce or stressed. This means they are being built where water is already in short supply. For example, in Solapur, Maharashtra, a big NTPC coal plant has been operating since 2017 and locals now wait a week for water taps to work compared to every other day before the plant existed.

Also, at Chandrapur, the power station sometimes shuts down because there is not enough water, yet officials still plan to build more there. These facts show that more coal plants may cause fights between townspeople and power stations over water.

Coal plants need water to cool their machines and create steam to make electricity. The International Energy Agency (IEA) warns that coal plants use much more water than other kinds of power stations and sometimes must shut down when water runs out.

In fact, India has lost 60 billion units of electricity since 2014 just because coal plants could not get enough water. A single drought in Maharashtra in 2016 caused a loss of 7 billion units, which equals ₹2,400 crore in lost revenue. That money could have helped schools, hospitals, and local communities.

Farmers, villagers, and even towns nearby are suffering. In Solapur, residents now ration water and store it during supply days. And in Jharkhand’s mining areas, coal activities have dried up wells, forcing people to drill 700–800 feet deep or buy water from trucks to drink.

A Greenpeace report warns that coal plants use about 4.6 billion cubic meters of fresh water each year, enough for 250 million people. Worse, most coal plants do not follow the rules for saving water.

Experts from the IEA suggest using dry cooling systems or treated wastewater instead of fresh water. But so far, only 2% of coal plants actually use dry cooling and 5–8% use treated sewage water.

We could also build more solar and wind power, which use almost no water. Plus, the government needs to change old rules so that power stations cannot be built in dry and vulnerable areas.

India needs electricity for homes, schools, and industries, but not at the cost of water. We should try to balance energy with water and push for cleaner power like solar and wind.