Back from Raipur

I was getting anxious before i left for Raipur. I am back already and have done a reasonably good job. This part of KVK energy shoot i had to cover 3 plants. we did 2 on the day-1 that is on 21 June. we reached raipur on dot at 11.45am, then drove down to Korba. Korba is know for coal mines and so there are a lot of power plants coming up there. it makes economic sense to to produce thermal/coal based electricity where coal is available.

we reached Ventral Point hotel at Korba at about 7pm. i settled in my room (# 112). the room was hust about clean; but it had no view. front low windows opened into the passage and back had view of all sort od pipes etc. so i kept them shut and used the A/C. i normally would not like to use the A/C if there was some ventilation.

next morning we left hotel after breakfast (8.15am) for the shoot of first plant called SVPL. we took more than an hour to get there. there were just 2 temporary function bulidings for the costruction staff. there was massive expanse of land that had been leveled at best. it had been drizzling and mud was soft. many places my shoes sank into the mud. we did a lot of coverage of scanty work being done by trucks, bull-dozers and excavatores. i took shots of plinths of some huge pillars that have been made to support the heavy structure later. we left from here around 11 and drove to another plant called LANCO. it is very big and has cappacity of generating more than 600 MW. there are 2 seperate sections of 300 MW each. i am not sure of the capacity at the moment.

shoot here was quite tough. we did not have helpers, except on the first location. we started with climbing on topf of a tall concrete mixer. from here we could see all around the plant. there was a lot of steel girders, rods and such material lying around in an area of nearly 1000 acres. it is indeed a big venture. it kept raining on and off and kept our movements restricted. due the slippery mus the car was moving freely too. it was skidding. so we had to walk and climb to most places. we had all the cooperation for shooting but did not get physical help to carry our equipment.

w did some big shots here. large cranes picking heavy stuff, people going dangerously high up in an cable trolly, shots of turbine blades, chimneys, boilers etc. i think we shot here till 6pm when it got pretty dark inside. from outside we had practically covered everything.

i packed up and rest of unit made a mes by walking in the wrong direction and calling the car through the slippery mud. while i stood where i was supposed to. now the car could not come back for me. we made so many calls between us. finally i decided that i will take a lift to the gate and if it works out will take another lift to go to Korba. i called Reddy (KVK guy) and told him that i am going to the main gate. stragely no one felt bad or sorry for making things difficult for me. i too cooled it. got to the hotel. i realised i was getting a very bad headache. i could not analyze its reason. i called the hotel photel to get me some pills. i also told Reddy about it. he said he will get it fro me. but it took a long time before some got disperine instead of others like aspro and anacin. i dissolved 2 disperines in water, drank it up and hoped for the best. i just had milk for dinner.

in the morning i was fine. we checked out of our rooms after breakfast and drove to the last plant. we reached there in about an hour. this plant is functioning. it has small capacity of 86MW, perhaps. we shot the entire day here, covering cola movement, husk movement, exterior structure, waste dumping area and switch yard. from here the power cables join the main grid. after this shifted inside covering the control panel, technicians, computer screens, turbines and all. we wrapped for lunch around 2pm and after that w drove to take a shot of the gate and the sign board of the name.

i announced the wrap at 3.45 and we headed for Raipur to stay the night. i wanted to click pictures of the bio-diesel plant. i got some desi variety; but not the upgraded versions. after driving for more than 3 hours we checked in the hotel. my room here  was 504. clicked 2 pix outside the hotel in the morning. everything looked ordinary.

we all got the airport at 10.30 for a 12 noon flight. as i put my tickets on the desk they told me the flight was late by 2 hours. we flew off at 2pm and were back in Mumbai. i went to provideo to drop the lights and the digi-beta tapes.

at 6pm i was surprised to find everyone at home!