The die is cast for a protracted struggle to save the public sector Sri Damodaram Sanjeevaiah Thermal Power Plant with major opposition parties and trade unions forming parallel bodies to fight the Jagan Mohan Reddy government's decision to hand over the plant to a private player on a 25-year lease.
The Telugu Desam Party, Congress, Communist Party of India and CPI(Marxist) constituted a save SDSTPP committee to spearhead a united struggle. ‘‘We will step up stir in a phased manner to save the prestigious power plant run with super critical technology,” said TDP Polit Bureau member Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy after an all-party meeting here, which was attended by all parties barring the ruling Bharatiya Janata party at the Centre and the YSR Congress Party in the State.
As part of the stir, a massive rally would be organised up to the Collectorate here on March 16. The power plant has several advantages including the facility to draw imported coal through a conveyor belt directly into the plant from a ship. It should not be privatised under any circumstances, said CPI district secretary Ch. Prabakar.
CPI(M) district secretary M. Ramesh questioned the decision of the government to hand over the ₹25,000 crore power plant to a private player. After 25 years only scrap would remain with the State government.
The ''privatisation'' decision has been stoutly opposed by the directors representing Telangana which also had stakes in the plant grounded in undivided Andhra Pradesh, said Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) leader and a parallel struggle committee of trade unions convener M. Mohan Rao. Privatisation of the public sector power plant meant power tariff going out of the reach of common people in the long run, opined trade unions committee co-convener and All India Trade Union Congress leader Dama Ankaiah.
