Ready to switch on

THE change is obvious. Inside the high-security Dabhol power plant grounds, a ghost town abandoned for five years is coming alive. Even late in the evening, young moms push prams on the once empty campus streets.

Tennis courts and swimming pools are being spruced up as families with babies and a multinational workforce8212;from BHEL to GE, including Bechtel8212;move into rows of air-conditioned bungalows, each with its own garden patch and, if one is lucky, a trained cook.

At the transformed plant8212; Dabhol Power Company8217;s reincarnation as Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Ltd RGPPL8212;campus, teachers have arrived to take over the school with classes up to Standard VIII. Renovation of the recreation centre is complete with its gymnasium in place. Also at the staff8217;s service are an ATM, a new grocery store stocking teddy bears and a trendy barber shop. Officials also hope to set up a home theatre system soon.

8220;It was a jungle six months ago. We didn8217;t have rooms fit to work in or stay,8221; says a top RGPPL official. 8220;Now things are different.8221;

Nowhere in the world has a power plant of this size and complexity been reactivated after five years. 8220;It8217;s a unique experience. The schedule is extremely tight. Besides, power plants of this design are usually half this size,8221; says Thomas Chiangi, project manager, GE Energy, USA.

8220;Given India8217;s electricity needs, we8217;ve cut deadlines for reactivating Block II from five-and-a-half months to about two months,8221; says Chiangi. It is the first of the 2,144 MW capacity plant8217;s three blocks that will be reactivated from May 1. Full load commercial operations are slotted from July. Blocks I and III are targeted for revival later this year, subject to availability of natural gas supplies.

One can feel the rush in the air. About 27 BHEL engineers and another 29 from GE are spotted busy at block-II even on a Sunday morning, chasing the deadline to feed Maharashtra8217;s power-starved grid8212;short of 4,000 MW8212;an extra 550 MW.

8220;This is undoubtedly the most stunning plant I8217;ve seen in design,8221; says B P Rao, project manager, BHEL. Last week, a team leader arrived from Bechtel, USA, to give an action plan to reconnect an intricate network of the plant8217;s subsystems with the power generation station.

To save costs, revival of several critical systems is being handled by BHEL instead of Bechtel. 8220;There are frequent technical crises, and most components are new to us as they were imported,8221; says Rao. 8220;But we rely on our experience to fix things.8221;

OUTSIDE the barricaded campus gates, the wait for change has begun. Though local BJP workers have already resented the 8220;increasing cost of living8221;, here in Guhagar8217;s picturesque fishing villages, the talking point is that the 8220;company8221; is back in business.

Every morning, unemployed young men throng Dabhol in anticipation of landing some job in the resurrected plant. Many are been waiting for months. 8220;Nearly 100 jobless youths wait here all day,8221; says Dnyaneshwar Narwarkar, an STD booth operator. 8220;Some walk from nearby villages, others come by bus from Khed and Chiplun.8221;

8220;When a contractor or official passes by, we plead for jobs,8221; says Rajesh Bhorji of Dhopave village. He has stood opposite the barricades every day from 8.30 in the morning till 5.30 in the evening since January. 8220;My HSC exams are over, but I can8217;t afford further studies. The company8217;s reopening is my only chance.8221;

A senior RGPPL official says about 125 locals were hired recently. Last week, school dropout Manoj Bhorji got lucky. 8220;Look, I8217;ve got the yellow card,8221; he says, flashing his RGPPL identity card. 8220;I don8217;t know my salary but I will work as a temporary driver.8221;

About 22 km from the plant, stands Sanjay Mandavkar8217;s tea shack where foreign engineers working at Dabhol and trucks hauling supplies to the plant would stop for its 8220;famous8221; and competitively priced cup of tea at Rs 4 compared with Rs 6 anywhere else.

8220;No water and medium sugar, that8217;s why foreigners like our tea. We made money during the company8217;s time,8221; recalls Mandavkar. 8220;But highway traffic is still thin, so business is unaffordable. I hope things will change again.8221;

In Chiplun, 50 km from Dabhol, Hotel Shalimar closed shop along with the plant8217;s closure. Recently, its owner Parshuram Shinde has rented Hotel Swagat right opposite the barricades. As the site buzzes with demand for omelette-pav for Rs 10 again, Shinde hopes for profit if 8220;the company restarts like old times8221;.

Next door, a grocery store has reopened after three years, with a newly painted board. 8220;We reopened last year, but we8217;re still losing money,8221; says owner Ashok Sakpal.

In villages where rising diesel prices makes fishing unprofitable, locals had agitated for jobs with the Enron Viruddh Sangharsh Samiti. Now that Enron8217;s ghost is gone, the plant8217;s Bharatiya resurrection is their only hope of a fixed income. But they must wait for 8220;big business8221; for at least another year until the plant gets fully operational.

But, as Mandavkar would say, what is a few more months after five long years8230;

Quest for Power

June, 1992

Enron and the Maharashtra government sign a non-binding memorandum of understanding to build the plant. This led to formation of the Dabhol Power Company DPC, a joint venture of Enron and two other American corporations, General Electric and Bechtel.

February, 1993

A formal agreement signed for a plant that can generate about 2450 MW at an approximate cost of 3 billion.

April, 1993

Heinz Vergin, World Bank manager for India, rejects Enron8217;s loan application, saying that the Dabhol plant is 8220;not economically viable8221;.

Nov, 1993

The Central Electricity Authority in New Delhi gives provisional clearance to the project. It is the largest single foreign investment in India.

August, 1995

Clinton administration8217;s cabinet members, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and Energy Secretary Hazel O8217;Leary, personally urge India to accept Enron8217;s proposed project.

January 8, 1996

Enron and the Maharashtra government reach a new agreement that would shift some of the construction costs and lower the electricity

tariffs.

June 3, 1997

Police storm the homes of several women in western India who had led a massive protest against Enron8217;s new natural-gas plant near their fishing village.

November 14, 1997

Enron International8217;s CEO Rebecca Mark unveils an energy plan that includes a 300 million project to build a pipeline from Dabhol to Hazira and to the North to add 1200 km of complimentary pipeline system to the existing HBJ pipeline at a cost of 900 million.

January 25, 1999

Human Rights Watch releases a report that indicates human right violations had occurred as a result of opposition to the Dabhol Power Project.

November, 1999

Enron purchases 5.1 percent of the company that operates the country8217;s sole long-distance gas pipeline, which runs from the offshore gas fields in the Bombay High area to the country8217;s capital, New Delhi.

June-Oct 2000

Maharashtra government allies demand scrapping of the project because of the cost of the power it produces.

February, 2001

US Vice-President Dick Cheney8217;s energy task force changes a draft energy proposal to include a provision to boost oil and natural gas production in India. The amendment is so narrow that it could only be said to be targeted for Enron8217;s power plant in India.

May 17, 2001

White House8217;s energy policy recommends 8220;the President direct the Secretaries of State and Energy to work with India8217;s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to help India maximise its domestic oil and gas production.8221;

June, 2001

Construction of the Dabhol plant comes toa halt.