Himachal's power project remains shut for fourth day

Calcutta News.Net
Thursday 29th July, 2010

The 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri hydropower project in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh remained closed for the fourth day Thursday as the silt level again rose higher than the permissible limit of 4,000 ppm (parts per million).

The shutdown has affected power supply to states like Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, among others.

The silt content in the Sutlej river again crossed 17,000 ppm, Vijay Verma, deputy general manager of the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVNL), the company that runs the project, told IANS.

'As the silt level crosses the permissible limit, we suspend power generation in all the six units of 250 MW each. High silt could affect the turbines,' he added.

The sudden inflow of the silt was due to heavy rainfall in the catchment of the Sutlej river on which the project is based.

This was the season's third closure of the plant. Earlier, it was closed for a day each on June 24 and July 19.

SJVNL, a joint venture between the centre and the state government, generates daily about 38 million units, which are supplied to Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The halt in power generation is causing a daily loss of Rs.9 crore to project authorities.

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