2 decades on, work on much-awaited 93-MW NGHEP yet to start

Ganderbal, Nov 24: While Kashmir continues to reel under a distressing power crisis, the government is yet to commence the work on the much-anticipated 93 MW New Ganderbal Hydroelectric Project (NGHEP).

Announced in 1996, the work on the NGHEP is in limbo as the authorities have failed to start the construction work on the project.

Coming up at a cost of over Rs 800 crore on River Sindh, the NGHEP was conceived as a run-of-the-river scheme on Sindh nallah with three units of 31 MW each.

Official sources said that in 2014, a two-stage bidding process was adopted for the selection of the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor for the construction of the project in which Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) emerged as the successful bidder with a negotiated cost of Rs 819.18 crore.

However, for a variety of reasons HCC failed to implement the project till 2017 and subsequently, the contract was cancelled.

Sources said that the Letter of Intent (LoI) to the HCC was issued under a cabinet decision following which a proposal was placed before the State Administrative Council (SAC) chaired by then Governor Satya Pal Malik, which accorded approval to annulment of the bid process and initiation of procurement process of the NGHEP afresh by the Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC) in the EPC mode.

The decision was taken given the resolution passed by the Board of Directors of JKSPDC.

Official sources said that all the requisite clearances for the project had been obtained and compliances for clearance of the project by the Indus Commission (Gol) made.

The NGHEP is said to be more viable economically, geologically, and environmentally when compared to other proposed and under-construction projects of the JKSPDC and the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) and involves minimal rehabilitation and resettlement and social issues.

The government’s failure to start the construction on NGHEP has evoked resentment among the people here.

Locals said that the successive governments had failed to initiate the work on the NGHEP, marring the purpose of this vital project.

An official said that the project was still in the tendering stage and they cannot give an exact time when the work on it would start.

District Development Council (DDC) Ganderbal Chairman, Nuzhat Ishfaq told Greater Kashmir that there was progress in the tendering process on the project.

“Due to the involvement of an international firm in the bidding process certain procedures and formalities had to be done which caused some delay in it,” she said. “Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has shown a personal interest in the project and, hopefully, work on it will start soon.”

Though there is a reduction in the water level, people blame the authorities for not paying heed towards maintaining the power projects like system upgradation, project digitalisation, manpower, and hi-tech supervision to explore their full potential.

Executive Engineer Generation Division Ganderbal, Muneer Ahmad told Greater Kashmir that the dip in generation was mostly due to the low water discharge these days.

“We have three power projects including Old Ganderbal which nowadays generates 3 MW instead of 15 MW, USHP-1 Sumbal generates 6.5 MW instead of 22 MW as one of its units is being overhauled and USHP-2nd Kangan generates 10 MW instead of 105 MW due to the low discharge and two of its units are under maintenance,”Ahmad said.

Meanwhile, locals said that the power supply in the district was the worst.

“It is shocking that instead of ensuring regular power supply, the Power Development Department (PDD) is resorting to unscheduled power cuts,” said Showket Ahmad of Wayil.

The residents of various areas of Ganderbal district said that they were facing repeated power cuts during morning and evening hours.

“Every day we face the problem of unscheduled power cuts only to find ourselves in complete darkness,” a resident of Gund said.